PMD Explorers of Sky - Adventures of Team Pokepals
by chosenone1994
Summary: Piplup, claiming that he was a human, meets up with Chimchar to form Team Poképals. They aspire to become one of the top exploration teams within the Grass Continent, but little do they realize that a greater adventure involving saving the world may be in their prospects. Join them in a grand tale of adventure and friendship! Inspired by the Explorers games and their TV specials.
1. A Storm at Sea

**First off, before you begin reading this story, I know that there are many novelizations of this great game, but rarely have I seen Team Poképals of Piplup and Chimchar from the animated specials in any of them or other stories. I like this combination very much, and decided to begin their story a little differently than the one from their first animated special. There might be some differences in terms of dialogue and the story format, but I included a few references to other PMD games as well. I hope you'll enjoy reading it!**

 **Pokémon and the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series belong to Nintendo, Game Freak, and Spike Chunsoft.**

 **Songs listed in the Music Recommendations sections belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

 _Chimchar Arrives At The Beach, Will You Form A Team With Me? - On The Beach At Dusk (PMD: Explorers games)_

 _The Thieves Steal the Treasure! - Air of Unease (PMD: Explorers of Sky)_

 _What's a Mystery Dungeon? - Beach Cave (PMD: Explorers games)_

 _Give My Treasure Back To Me! - Rising Fear (PMD: Explorers games)_

 _Battle Against the Thieves - Boss Battle, Children's Adventure! (Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon)_

 _We Won! - Job Clear! (PMD: Explorers games)_

 _The First Step is Taken! - Title Theme (PMD: Explorers games)_

* * *

 **Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky**

 **Adventures of Team Poképals**

 _ **Chapter One**_

 _ **A Storm at Sea**_

It was a dark and stormy night in the Grass Continent, one of the many lands that occupied the world that was inhabited only by creatures called pokémon. So far, a human had yet to be seen on this particular land. A few flashes of lightning occurred, and two unknown voices are apparently trying to get across a stormy sea to safety, when…

"Whoa! Are you all right?!" one voice, belonging to an older male had said, concerned for his companion.

"No! Don't let go! We're almost on land, just hang on!"

The younger male was struggling to hold on, however.

"I can't! I'm s-slipping!"

Another flash of lightning, and the helpless passenger screamed, being dragged out to sea…

* * *

Hours later, the passenger's eyes attempted to open. He caught a glimpse of a clear blue sky, with white sand below him, and water occasionally being wash ashore. He should have known he was on a beach when he opened his eyes, but struggled to think so otherwise.

"Owwww… Where…am I?"

He struggled to stay conscious.

"I can't...stay awake..."

He then drifted off to sleep, closing his eyes.

* * *

Later during sunset, a fire monkey pokémon known as Chimchar was pacing back and forth in front of a gate built on a tent that had a shape of a pink Pokémon. He was trying to get in, but his own fear was preventing him from doing so.

"No way! I refused to be paralyzed by this any longer!" Chimchar said. "I have to be brave, starting now, and get in!"

He then attempted to walk up towards the gate, but when he stepped on the grate, he jumped up in fear by a sudden voice!

"Pokémon detected!"

"Whose footprint?" another voice had said.

"It belongs to a chimchar!"

"Ahhhh!" screamed Chimchar, as he quickly stepped back out of the way.

"That was too close!"

He then breathed a sigh of relief, but quickly bore a sad look for not getting in.

"I can't gather my courage to get in. I keep telling myself that today's the day, but I just can't do it..."

Chimchar then removed his necklace that held a relic with an odd pattern on it, and looked at it.

"I thought that holding on to this personal treasure of mine would inspire me..."

He put it back on around his neck and then shook his head in disappointment.

"But nope, I still can't get it done and over with. I'm such a coward…this is so discouraging."

He sadly walked downstairs off the cliff, not knowing that there were two pokémon watching him. They struck a conversation on Chimchar's failed attempt to get in.

"Hey, Zubat! Did you see all of that?" a purple pokémon that was spewing out gas said.

"You bet I did, Koffing!" Zubat, a blue bat pokémon with purple wings had replied.

"That little wimp that paced had something good, right?"

"He had it, that's for sure. It Kinda looked like treasure, there."

"Should we go after it?"

"Of course."

Koffing and Zubat followed Chimchar, who was heading to the beach, not far from here.

* * *

The beach looked absolutely gorgeous, as a majestic sunset was on scene, along with krabby, crab-like pokémon, blowing bubbles into the air to make the peaceful atmosphere more incredible to witness. Chimchar arrived at the beach, amazed by the sight.

"Wow! What a great sight!"

He stared into the sunset sky sitting above the ocean, taking in the wonderful sight.

"When the weather's good like this, the krabby come out at sunset to blow bubbles. These bubbles that catch the setting sun's rays off the waves is what makes this scene so beautiful."

Chimchar stared at the scene with silence for a few moments before he continued.

"This is where I always go to when I'm feeling sorry for myself. It always makes me feel good to be here. It's uplifting, and it cheers me up."

He turned left of the sight and noticed something unusual on the beach…

"Huh? What's that over there?"

He walked over to the figure and noticed that it was a Piplup, a penguin-like pokémon. It was laying on its back unconscious, making Chimchar worried.

"That piplup's not getting up! I have to help it somehow!"

He ran over to the blue pokémon and tried to wake it up.

"Hey, are you okay?! What happened?!"

The piplup thankfully managed to get up. He groaned a bit as he did, and was amazed by a sight of a pokémon like Chimchar helping him!

"Whoa! You're a Chimchar! You're just about the same size as me!"

"Well, all that matters is that you're awake! What a relief!" Chimchar replied.

The penguin Pokémon looked around and wondered where he was, until Chimchar snapped him out of his thoughts.

"You weren't moving at all, and that really worried me sick! Do you know how you ended up unconscious here?"

 _I was unconscious? I wonder how that happened…_ thought the Piplup. He then realized something about talking to Chimchar, as he jumped up in surprise.

"Whoa! You're a talking pokémon!" the penguin pokémon exclaimed.

"Of course, I can speak! I'm Chimchar! It's so nice to meet you!" said the monkey Pokémon with a big smile, and continued, "Who might you be? I've never seen you around before."

"Oh, I'm a human, and my name is..." the Piplup said, trying to figure out his name before Chimchar spoke up.

"Huh? You say you're a human?! You look like a totally ordinary Piplup to me!"

The penguin pokémon, claiming to be a human, looked at his reflection on the water, surprised at the fact that he did, in fact, turn into a piplup! He had a yellow beak for a mouth, yellow feet, a blue and white body, and flippers for hands.

"Oh no! It can't be happening...but I _did_ turn into a piplup! I wonder how this happened… I can't seem to remember anything about it."

"You're a little odd..." replied Chimchar. "Are you pulling some kinda trick on me with your piplup humor?"

The penguin quickly shook his head. "Uhhh, no! Not at all! I'm telling the truth! I used to be a human!"

"You're telling me the truth?" Piplup nodded. Chimchar thought it over for a second, and answered, "Okay, I believe you! Do you have a name at least?"

"Yes, I do!" said the penguin Pokémon. "Now what was it..."

For a few moments, he tried to say his name, but couldn't remember it.

"Awww, man! I don't know! I'll just go with Piplup for now."

"Okay then, Piplup." Chimchar said. "At least you don't seem to be a bad pokémon by the look of things. Sorry that I doubted you. It's just that more bad pokémon keep turning up lately! Many of 'em have gotten aggressive recently, and that has made things somewhat worse than before..."

He tried to continue, but Zubat and Koffing came up from behind him, with Zubat pushing him from behind!

"Yowch!"

Piplup gasped at this mean gesture.

"Well, I do beg your pardon," Koffing said sarcastically.

"Hey! Why'd you do that for?!" Piplup angrily replied for what Zubat did to Chimchar. The penguin Pokémon helped his friend up, while the bat simply laughed.

"Can't you figure it out? We wanted to mess with ya! Got a problem with that?!"

"What?!" both Piplup and Chimchar said, surprised.

Zubat stared at Chimchar's treasure that he wore around his neck.

"Is that yours?"

"Yup, what do you want with-"

"Sorry, kiddo. We'll take that!"

Zubat yanked the necklace with the treasure off Chimchar's neck with his fangs! This shocked Chimchar and Piplup, who only stared back.

"What's wrong, guys? Scared?" Koffing mockingly replied. "I didn't expect the both of you to be such cowards!"

He turned to Zubat.

"C'mon, let's get outta here."

"See ya around, losers! Hahaha!"

Koffing and Zubat went into the nearby cave near the beach. Piplup could not believe what had happened, and Chimchar wore a sad look.

"Oh no..." Chimchar said. "What should I do? That's my personal treasure. It means everything to me." He had tears in his eyes at this time. "If I lose it, then..."

He gathered himself quickly though. He shook it off, and had a determined look on his face as he turned toward Piplup.

"No! There's not a second to waste! I've gotta get it back! Can you help me, please?"

"Of course, pal!" Piplup proudly replied.

"R-really?!" replied Chimchar, with shining eyes. "You'll really help me?! Thanks so much! Let's go after 'em!"

Piplup and Chimchar decided to head into the cave.

* * *

As soon as they got in, Chimchar decided to inform Piplup on something important…

"OK, Piplup. You should know that the cave we're in has floors that change in layout constantly, almost never remaining the same. Places like these are called mystery dungeons. They're wonderful to explore, but they can be rough at times. You'll encounter wild pokémon which you'll need to battle with. pokémon like us that go exploring in dungeons like this have moves that we can use in battle. Every type of pokémon has different sets of moves that they can use. For example, you are a water-type, so you'll use moves that are mostly related to water, and since I'm a fire-type, I'll use some moves related to fire instead. Every time we win a battle, we'll gain experience and eventually get stronger for tougher battles ahead. Not only that, we'll be able to learn more moves! Do you understand all of this, Piplup?"

"Yes, Chimchar! I'll remember this from now on."

"OK, now if I can recall, this cave has five floors. We're obviously on the first floor, so those two guys should be on the fifth floor, waiting for us! Let's get going!"

Piplup nodded in agreement, and he and Chimchar made their way through the floors, battling pokémon along the way to strengthen themselves for the battle against Koffing and Zubat. On the fourth floor, prior to the meeting of the thieves on the immediate last floor, Piplup picked up an orange seed next to the stairs and Chimchar explained what it was.

"That's a Blast Seed, Piplup! If you eat it, or throw it to a foe, you can do serious damage to your opponent right in front of you!"

"Awesome! Let's try it out when we get to those thieves!"

So Piplup held onto the Blast Seed and he and Chimchar went ahead to the last floor where Koffing and Zubat awaited them. The four arrived at a dead end.

"Hey guys, we're here!" Piplup cried to Koffing and Zubat. The thieves turned around and recognized the two pals immediately.

"Well, well," replied Koffing. "If it isn't the little Piplup and his pal Chimchar, the big chicken."

Chimchar was offended more by the insult and yelled, "Give me back what you stole from me! That's my personal treasure! It means everything to me!"

"Treasure, you say?" replied Zubat. "That thing is really valuable, huh?"

"It could be worth more than we'd hoped for, I'd say," Koffing continued. "We oughta try selling it though. Who knows? It might get a good price. That's all the more reason why we're not giving it back!"

Chimchar was shocked at this statement, prompting Piplup to get upset at the thieves. Piplup knew that he and Chimchar needed to take action!

"All right, you thieves! That's enough! We'll take it back by force if we have to! C'mon, Chimchar! Let's take them down!"

"Right, Piplup!"

The four pokémon got into battle stances, and away they went! Piplup used a water-type move that he recently learned on Zubat and followed up by eating the Blast Seed he had to put the bat out of commission! He then assisted Chimchar in battling Koffing and before they knew it, the battle was over. Piplup and Chimchar were victorious!

"Awesome!" cried Piplup.

"Right on!" Chimchar exclaimed proudly, and did a high-five with his pal.

The defeated thieves who were both covered in smoke, Zubat from the Blast Seed, and Koffing from Chimchar's moves, groaned in pain.

"Ugh… We got roughed up..." said Zubat weakly.

Piplup and Chimchar decided to help them up. As soon as Chimchar put the treasure back around his neck, which was luckily unharmed, they quickly distanced themselves afterwards so that Zubat and Koffing could shake off the smoke. They then washed themselves with water, and turned back their attention to the victorious pals.

"Blast it!" cursed Koffing. "How did we get wiped out by puny wimps like them?"

"OK, you got your treasure back!" said Zubat, realizing that the treasure was no longer in his possession. "Are you happy?"

"Don't think you're so awesome just yet! Your victory is only a fluke!"

"Yeah, just remember it!"

The two thieves scurried out of the cave, leaving Piplup and Chimchar alone.

"I got back my Relic Fragment!" cried Chimchar, as he embraced his personal treasure. He had a gigantic smile on his face. "Am I ever glad to get it back!" He then turned to Piplup, with tears of joy falling from his eyes. "It's only because you agreed to help me, Piplup…thank you so much!" Chimchar proceeded to hug the helpful Piplup, catching him off guard at first, but was extremely heartfelt to receive the thanks and embrace.

"Awww, you're welcome, Chimchar! Anything for you, my sweet pal."

After a few moments, the two decided to leave the cave together, and get back onto the beach.

* * *

"Seriously, Piplup! I can't ever thank you enough!" Chimchar cried with a big smile, still overjoyed to get back his Relic Fragment. He hugged Piplup again, surprising him once more, but had a heartwarming smile as well. The blue Pokémon closed his eyes and decided to have a thought on this recent happening.

 _I only helped because I just happened to be here. Was it the right thing to do?_ He answered it right away with a bigger smile. _I suppose so. This pokémon is clearly grateful! It's so nice to be appreciated!_

The two separated themselves from the embrace and sat down on the beach together. Chimchar took off the Relic Fragment around his neck and gave it to Piplup so that he could examine it closely.

"This is a Relic Fragment," said Chimchar. "Well, at least that's what I started calling it, but this is really my precious treasure. You see, I've always liked legends and lore, and because of it, I always get so excited when I hear tales from the past! Don't you ever feel the same way?"

"Hmmm… I don't know… I lost my memory, remember?" answered Piplup.

"Oh, right! Anyway, there are hidden troves full of treasure and strange relics, uncharted territories veiled in darkness, and new lands just waiting to be discovered that I want to find! These places must be full of unimaginable gold, treasure, and not to mention, history! Wouldn't it be amazing to make such historic discoveries?"

"Yeah! I'd love to experience that someday!"

"And that's what I always dream of, exactly. It's all exciting to me!" Chimchar then got back to the conversation of finding his Relic Fragment. "So one day, I found this Relic Fragment. I know it may not look like much, but take a closer look."

Piplup looked at the patterns on the Relic Fragment.

"There's an inscription here that forms a strange pattern, doesn't it?" he said.

"Yes, that's true!" answered Chimchar. "I've never seen a pattern like this, either. There has to be some significance to it. This Relic Fragment must be the key to legendary places and areas where precious treasure lies! That's the feeling I get at least, and that's why I want to join an exploration team. I want to discover where that fragment fits into, and solve its mystery! I tried joining an exploration team as an apprentice..." He bore a look of shame for what he was about to say next.

"...but I chickened out. I was too afraid then."

Chimchar then focused the conversation towards Piplup. "What about you, Piplup? What will you do now? You lost your memory, and somehow got transformed into a pokémon. Do you have anywhere to go and stay after this?"

Piplup shook his head in response.

"Okay then," Chimchar continued, "can I ask a big favor?" Piplup nodded. "Would you be willing to form an exploration team with me? I'm convinced that I can form an effective one with you, Piplup. So will you? Please?"

Piplup rose in surprise. _Whoa! What should I do? I'm getting recruited outta the blue! I'm not sure what an exploration team is, but since I have nowhere to go, I might as well find out by joining one with Chimchar._ He calmed himself, assuring that Chimchar had indeed asked the right thing. _I haven't got a single clue what I should do next,_ _but_ _I guess_ _it_ _won't hurt to team up with him for now. Maybe I'll eventually discover who or what I am by hanging out with him!_

"Okay, Chimchar! I'll form a team with you!"

"Really?!" Chimchar said with a big smile. "You'll form one with me?! AWESOME!" He jumped in the air punching upward with one fist. He landed on the ground, stood up straight, and continued. "Thank you so much! We're gonna be a great combination! Let's make this work!"

"By the way, Chimchar," Piplup said, "I think I have a name for our team. Let's go with Poképals!"

"Sure thing! First, we should go to Wigglytuff's place, sign up as apprentices, and tell him to name our team as Team Poképals. That's when we'll need to train in order to become a first-rate exploration team. I'm sure it'll be very tough, but I know we'll give it our very best, Piplup!"

"Right, beacause..." Piplup answered.

"...we'll be..." continued Chimchar.

"TEAM POKÉPALS!" they both finished as they raised their fists into the air. They had a laugh afterwards and had big, excited smiles on their faces.

"All right, Piplup! I'll show you where Wigglytuff's Guild is. Follow me!" said Chimchar. Piplup went with his newfound partner off the beach and into the small forest, leading to the guild close by.

Thus, Piplup and Chimchar had formed an exploration team called Team Poképals. They had indeed taken their first step toward the many fantastic realms of adventure that would await them upon their arrival.


	2. The New Guild Recruits

_**Chapter 2**_

 _ **The New Guild Recruits**_

Piplup and Chimchar, now the leaders of the newly formed Team Poképals, had arrived in front of the pink Pokémon shaped entrance made on a tent. Chimchar begun to describe to Piplup what this particular place was…

"This is Wigglytuff's Guild. To form an exploration team, you need to register your team here, then you have to train until you become a first-rate team." Chimchar was still creeping out from the sight of the entrance. "But for some reason, I still find something a little odd about this place."

Piplup had reassured his partner by encouraging him with the following statement. "Don't worry, Chimchar! You're with me now. Let's try to get in!"

"Thanks, Piplup! You're right, I have to be brave and get inside."

Chimchar took a few steps to get on the grate again, and once more, he jumped up in fear because of the familiar voices examining his footprints.

"Pokémon detected!" said one voice.

"Whose footprint?" said another.

"It belongs to a Chimchar!"

"Hang in there, Chimchar! Keep being strong!" encouraged Piplup. Chimchar listened to those words and waited for entry.

"…You may ENTER!" said one voice after a few moments. "I hear someone's with ya! Get him to stand up THERE!"

Chimchar got off the grate, stood next to the entrance, and turned to Piplup. "That's you, Piplup! Stand on the grate so you can enter as well!"

Piplup decided to ponder about the grate before he could get on it.

 _So this grate is here so that no one can fall through. It looks strange, though. It might tickle my feet, or-_

The voice from within the guild snapped him out of his thought.

"Hey, you! Stranger! Get on the GRATE!"

Piplup went on the grate and the two voices examined his footprints.

"Pokémon detected!"

"Whose footprint?"

"It belongs to a..." One inspector was, for some reason, having a tough time examining Piplup's footprint.

"What's the matter, sentry Diglett?! Why can't you examine it?"

"I'm not sure, but I think it belongs to a… Piplup! Maybe a Piplup!"

"What?! MAYBE?!"

"That's because it's not a footprint that you'd normally see around here," answered Diglett.

"UGH! That's pretty crummy!" the other unknown sentry angrily replied. "Checking the footprints of visiting Pokémon is your JOB, isn't it?!"

"Yes, but I just don't know what I don't know."

Piplup and Chimchar grew dumbfounded of the conversation below them.

"Are they… arguing?" said Chimchar.

"…Sorry to make you WAIT." the still unknown second sentry said. "It's TRUE that you don't see any Piplup in these parts, but you don't SEEM to be bad, so that's good enough for us. You may ENTER!"

The gate finally went up and opened for both Piplup and Chimchar. The latter once more being startled by the sudden opening.

"Yikes! I'm so nervous and jittery! But I'm glad we're finally allowed in. My heart's still pounding though..."

"Calm down, Chimchar," Piplup assured his partner. "Let's go in. I'll be right behind you."

The Poképals went inside to find a ladder going downward.

"There's a hatch that leads underground here!" Chimchar exclaimed.

The two climbed down the ladder, and were amazed by the sight of the next room below. All kinds of Pokémon were there, most of them having a conversation, or some just looking at some boards for various reasons. Chimchar took in the sight and was amazed.

"So this _is_ Wigglytuff's Guild! With this many Pokémon, I must think that they're all on exploration teams!"

Just then, a voice snapped them back to reality.

"Excuse me!"

The voice came from another ladder lead down to another floor. It belonged to a parrot-like Pokémon, which had a music note-shaped head. He went towards them to examine them closely.

"It was you two that just came in right?"

"Y-yup!" Chimchar shyly answered.

"I'm Chatot!" the parrot Pokémon revealed his name. "I'm the Pokémon in the know around these parts! I am Guildmaster Wigglytuff's right-hand Pokémon! Now, shoo! Leave the premises! We have no time for salespeople or silly surveys. Off you go, if you please!"

"Uh, no! That's not why we're here!" replied Chimchar. "We wanna form an exploration team, and that's why we came. We want to be trained!"

"Wh-what?!" Chatot seemed surprised by this statement. "It's rare to see kids like you who want to apprentice at the guild, especially given how hard our training is!" He had a face of unsure confidence about Piplup and Chimchar. "Surely the steady stream of Pokémon that run away from our rigorous training proves how true that is!"

"Excuse me, Chatot," replied Piplup, "is the exploration team training that severe?"

"Huh?! No! Not at all!" Chatot replied, quickly correcting himself. "It's not true in the slightest! Our training program for exploration teams is as easy as can be!" He later bore a smile, with a little bit of embarrassment showing on his face. "Well, well, well! I wish you had told me up front that you wanted to be an exploration team! Hee-heeee!"

Team Poképals sweat-dropped, surprised by Chatot's sudden attitude adjustment.

"Anyway, if you want your team to get signed up right away, follow me!"

The two followed him down the ladder to the right towards the guild's second underground floor. He continued his conversation with them.

"This floor here is mainly where the apprentices work." Chatot then pointed Piplup and Chimchar to the left. "Team registration is this way. Please come along."

They followed him, but Chimchar got distracted and saw a window viewing the outside of the guild. He was amazed.

"Wow! Even though we're two floors underground, you can still see the outside of the guild from here!"

"Oh, please! Hush now!" replied Chatot a little angrily, but he calmed down and continued. "The guild is built into the side of a cliff. It's only natural that you would be able to see outside." He pointed Team Poképals back toward the door that was now in front of them. "Now, here we are at the guildmaster's chamber. On no account should you ever be discourteous to him." He turned toward the door and called to the guildmaster. "Guildmaster, it's me, Chatot! I'm coming in!" He opened the door and the three went in.

Inside the guildmaster's chamber stood a pink Pokémon, presumably Wigglytuff. Chatot stood aside from Piplup and Chimchar so that they can be introduced to the guildmaster.

"Guildmaster!" Chatot said. "I present to you two Pokémon who wish to join our guild as apprentices."

For a few odd moments, Wigglytuff didn't turn around.

"Guildmaster, um, Guildmaster?"

The pink Pokémon suddenly turned around, startling both Piplup and Chimchar!

"Hiya!" he finally said, greeting both of them. "I'm Wigglytuff, the guildmaster of my guild! If you wanted to form an exploration team, we can get it done now! First we must register your team's name. What will it be?"

Chimchar turned to Piplup. "So do you remember what our team's name will be, Piplup?"

"Sure!" he answered. He later answered to Wigglytuff. "We'll go as Team Poképals!"

"All settled, then! I'll register your team as Poképals. Gimme a sec..." He wrote the name on a piece of paper. "...and YOOM-TAH! Just like that, you are now an official exploration team!" He held out a yellow box in front of the officially formed Team Poképals, and placed it on the ground. "I present to you with this in commemoration, a Pokémon Exploration Team Kit!"

"A Pokémon Exploration Team Kit?" replied Chimchar.

"Yup. It's what every exploration team needs," answered Wigglytuff. "Open it up to see what's inside."

The little fire monkey opened it up to see that there was an explorer badge inside, along with a map and a bag!

"All right!" he exclaimed. "There are all sorts of great items in here!"

"That badge is your explorer badge! It's your official team identification! The map is called a Wonder Map, which will reveal locations as you explore! Finally, the bag that you will carry is called a Treasure Bag. It lets you carry items you find in dungeons. Your successes as an exploration team can lead to a wider space for your bag. It's very wonderful, isn't it? Go on, have a peek inside it!"

Chimchar opened the Treasure Bag up to find that there was a white scarf with black dots on it, along with a red ribbon with white polka dots on it.

"The white scarf is called a Defense Scarf," Wigglytuff described. "It protects you from physical attacks by weakening its damage level. The red ribbon is called a Joy Ribbon, which helps you get stronger overtime. These are special items, which will help you on your adventures!"

"Thanks so much!" exclaimed Chimchar. "We'll do our best!"

"Right. Just remember that you're only apprenticing right now. Keep that in mind and do your best to train!"

"We will!" answered Piplup.

"Let's give it our all, Piplup!" said Chimchar with a big smile.

The two new apprentices put one of their hands with another to build a cheer.

"One, two, three!" They raised their hands into the air and said, " **Team Poképals, ready for action!** "

"That's the spirit!" exclaimed Wigglytuff. "Now follow Chatot, please. He wants to show you to your room."

Piplup and Chimchar did as they were told, and they, along with Chatot, left the guildmaster's chamber.

* * *

Team Poképals followed Chatot to a hallway on the left, and straight beyond the two rooms that occupied it. The third room was in front of them, containing two straw beds for the new apprentices.

"Great!" Chimchar excitedly exclaimed, occupying one bed, while Piplup occupied another. "We get beds!"

"You will live here while you work for us," said Chatot. "Things will start getting busy for you tomorrow, so be sure to rise early and start living up to our code! Get to sleep early when you can, and try not to stay up too late!" He left the team alone for the night.

* * *

Some time later, the moon shone above the dark blue sky, outside the room of Team Poképals. Piplup and Chimchar were now laying down in their respective beds, with the latter wanting to review over the events that occurred today.

"Are you still awake, Piplup?"

"Yep, Chimchar. What is it?"

"My heart's been racing all day today over every little thing, but I'm very glad I finally made myself come here. I thought Wigglytuff would be scary, but he seems pretty friendly. We're gonna experience all sorts of things starting tomorrow, but I'm not scared. In fact, it's the other way around. I'm super excited about the adventures we'll face!"

"Me too, Chimchar. Me too..."

"*yawn* I'm getting sleepy. Let's give it our all, starting tomorrow. Good night, Piplup."

Chimchar went to sleep, but Piplup stayed awake, pondering about what has happened so far…

 _Ha… Now I'm suddenly apprenticing at the guild… But I have to admit, it's pretty exciting to be in an exploration team, and it's fun to be friends with Chimchar. However, I also came here to figure out who I am, what my real name is, how I turned into a Pokémon, and how I wound up unconscious on that beach._ He was finally getting tired as well. _I better just put all of those questions to rest for now. We have work to do starting tomorrow, and if I focus on that, everything should eventually become clear. I'm sure I'll get to the bottom of this in time._

Piplup closed his eyes and went to sleep, dreaming about the excitement that he and Chimchar will have tomorrow.

* * *

The next morning, Team Poképals had an abrupt awakening to the sound of an ear-deafening loud voice!

"HEY THERE! RISE AND SHINE!"

Piplup still had his eyes closed and was dazed by the voice, slowly trying to wake up.

 _Ugh, my head is pounding!_ He thought. _What a ridiculously loud voice! It almost blasted my eardrums!_

He opened his eyes to a sight of a purple Pokémon, with speaker-like shaped ears. Just as he was about to yell at him and Chimchar to get up once more, Piplup covered partly covered his ears.

"Why are ya still ASLEEP?! WAKE UP!"

"Owww… my poor ears..." said Chimchar weakly.

"C'mon, Chimchar! Snap OUT of it already! Your partner's already UP!" The yelling purple Pokémon introduced then himself. "I'm Loudred, a fellow apprentice! If you're late for our morning briefing, you'll be SORRY, so MOVE it!. Guildmaster Wigglytuff's got a BIG temper, and if you make him lose it, YOWEEE! That would be one very scary scene indeed!"

Loudred shook in fear of his sentences said by himself about Wigglytuff. "I've got goosebumps just thinking about it! YEESH!" He gathered himself and continued, "So ANYWAY, I'm not about to get in trouble because you rookies got up LATE! SO GET IT IN GEAR!" He walked away, much to the relief of Piplup and Chimchar.

"Urk! My ears are still ringing," said Chimchar as he slowly got up, dazed from Loudred's loud voice. "What did he say? Something about getting ready?"

"Yes, he did," Piplup answered.

Chimchar shook off the dizziness from this realization and replied, "That's right! We signed up as apprentices here, so that means… Oh no! We totally overslept! Let's hurry, Piplup!" He grabbed one of his partner's hands (or flippers in this case), along with their Treasure Bag, Wonder Map and explorer badge inside the bag, and quickly ran to the central room where a morning gathering was taking place with all the other guild members.

Loudred was relieved that the two newest members made it, but was still angry. "You're LATE, rookies!"

Chatot took exception to the unnecessary loud tone and treatment and said, "Hush! Your voice is ridiculously loud!" Loudred could only growl in dissatisfaction.

The parrot Pokémon gazed at the members to see if every member was present for the briefing to start the day. He answered, "Everyone seems to be present. Very well then, let us conduct our morning address." He turned to Wigglytuff's chamber door. "Guildmaster! The guild is in full attendance!"

Wigglytuff opened the door and came out of his chamber. Chatot continued, "Thank you, guildmaster! Please address the crew."

Even though Wigglytuff appeared to be awake, he was snoring with his eyes wide open! The apprentices decided to have a quiet chat about him.

"Psst! Wigglytuff never ceases to amaze me!" said one voice.

"Yeah, you got that right!" said another.

"Yup, looks like he's wide awake!"

"Eek! Even though his eyes are wide open, he's fast asleep!"

"Thank you, sir!" said Chatot, while the guild members now silenced themselves. "We all value your… words of wisdom!" He turned to the members to address them further. "OK, Pokémon! Take our guildmaster's words of wisdom to heart, and begin our morning cheers! All together now..."

The guild, except for Team Poképals, said the follwing in unison, " **A one, two, A one-two-three! One! Don't shirk work! Two! Run away and pay! Three! Smiles go for miles!** "

Chatot wrapped it up by saying, "OK, everyone, get to work!"

" **Hooray!** " said the members, again excluding Piplup and Chimchar, who still had no idea of what to do next. The guild's members then dispersed from the morning meeting, leaving the two new explorers still unsure about their own next move.

"Ummm, what should we do now, Piplup?" said Chimchar.

"Maybe we should put on those two items we got from last night," answered Piplup.

Chimchar nodded in agreement, and grabbed a Defense Scarf within their Treasure Bag to put on around his neck, along with the necklace holding the Relic Fragment. Piplup grabbed the Joy Ribbon and put it on his chest.

"I see you two are trying to get ready," Chatot replied from afar. "Follow me for your assignment today."

Piplup and Chimchar listened and followed Chatot up the ladder. Once they got up one floor, the parrot went right and the two followed until he stopped in front of a yellow bulletin board. He turned in front of them to continue his speech.

"You're just beginners, so we'll have you start off with this assignment." He turned to the board in front of them. "This board that you see in front right now is called the job bulletin board. Pokémon from various regions post job requests here." He turned back to both Piplup and Chimchar. "You're aware that bad Pokémon are cropping up in greater numbers, right?"

"Yup," answered Chimchar. "Because the flow of time is getting messed up. It's wreaking havoc, and that's why lots of bad Pokémon are appearing!"

"The flow of time is getting messed up?" questioned Piplup, turning to both Chimchar and Chatot. "You're saying time, as in hours and minutes?" Both nodded in agreement, and Piplup continued. "And because of that, more and more bad Pokémon are popping up?" They nodded again, causing Piplup to get panicked somewhat. "What's going on here?!"

"Calm down, Piplup," Chimchar assured. "I'm sure Chatot has a further reasonable explanation."

"Precisely," Chatot exclaimed. "Time getting out of whack has caused an outbreak of bad Pokémon. Perhaps because of all that, we have noticed an increase in the number of jobs, and in addition, but unknown if time's influence has to do with this, there has also been a mass outbreak of… mystery dungeons."

"Mystery dungeons?!" exclaimed Piplup, but he gathered himself and realized something. "Wait, that's right! Chimchar and I were in one yesterday in a cave near the beach! He explained it to me once I first entered it!"

"Exactly, Piplup!" Chimchar replied. "That's when we got my Relic Fragment back then! That place where we found it was, of course, a mystery dungeon. These dungeons change each time you go into one. They have different layouts and items every time you enter, but if you faint in the middle of a dungeon, you'll lost half of your money and items, and finally get kicked right out. They're very strange places, but every time you go inside one, there are always new things to discover! They really are fantastic places to go exploring!"

"Well," Chatot proudly exclaimed, "you're quite informed, aren't you? This will make things much easier for me to explain! Jobs all take place in mystery dungeons, as well!" He turned back to the job bulletin board. "So, let's look for a job that you should perform."

He browsed through the various papers that had job descriptions until he found one suitable for Team Poképals and took one off the board. He turned back to them and gave it to Chimchar. "Maybe this will do!"

"OK then, let's read it!" Chimchar said. He read from the job's description. "'Hello, my name is Spoink! An outlaw has run off with my most prized possession: my precious pearl! It's life itself, to me at least! I just can't seem to settle down if that pearl isn't in its proper place atop my head, but I've heard it has been sighted! It's said to be on a rocky bluff, on its seventh floor below the surface of the entrance, but that bluff is reported to be extremely unsafe. I could never go somewhere so frightening as that place! Oh friendly readers, would you be so kind as to go to the bluff and get my pearl? I beg your help, exploration team members!' - Spoink"

Chimchar realized something about the job. "Wait a minute..." He suddenly got angry. "We're gonna fetch an item that someone dropped?! I'd rather do something that's more of an adventure, like looking for treasure or exploring unknown places! Stuff like that!"

Chatot got more angry at Chimchar's unacceptable approach and attitude, and snapped, "Hush!", surprising the fire monkey. The parrot went on, "It's important that you rookies pay your dues! Now pay close attention! I'll repeat the warnings again to make sure they stick in your memory! You'll be forced out of a dungeon and sent back here if either of you faints, and you'll lose half of your money and items, so you'd best be careful in there!" He calmed down and concluded, "If you've understood all of that, I suggest you get on with the job!" He flew out of sight from the two, leaving them alone on the floor.

Chimchar could only sigh in disappointment, but Piplup put a flipper on him and smiled to reassure his partner. "C'mon, buddy! It's just a simple job for us. I'm sure there will be a reward for completing it!"

"Well, all right then, Piplup," Chimchar replied. "Thanks for cheering me up! Let's go then!" The two went up the left ladder, out of the guild, and toward the location of the bluff where Spoink's pearl was located.

* * *

Upon arriving at the bluff, the entrance was drenched with wet dirt and rocks, as Team Poképals came near the opening to the dungeon itself. Chimchar turned to Piplup for a brief chat.

"This must be the bluff's entrance. Spoink said that his pearl was on the seventh floor below the bluff. It's supposed to be a dangerous place, so let's be careful, and do our best, Piplup!"

"Gotcha, Chimchar!" cried Piplup. "By the look of this cave, I'll help you out if there are any Pokémon that are disadvantageous to you." Chimchar nodded at his partner's warning, and the two made their way inside.

Indeed, there were many water-type Pokémon that were dangerous to Chimchar, as they would be super effective to bring him down in a hurry. Piplup took the lead so that he, and most importantly Chimchar, could get through the dungeon unscathed, and obtain Spoink's missing pearl. He picked up various items to put in their Treasure Bag along the way, which Chimchar explained Piplup about their various effects, and Poké, this world's currency for money. Team Poképals battled several times on the six floors and gained several points of experience to get stronger for future endeavors, while Piplup, thanks to his Joy Ribbon, was gaining more than Chimchar, making his partner a little jealous along the way.

"Hey, no fair!" Chimchar playfully teased. "You seem to be two levels stronger than me now since you have that ribbon on you, though."

Piplup couldn't help but have a little laugh from both of those comments. "At least you're not down and out with that Defense Scarf you have on ya!" he replied with a playful tone.

Both of them continued down the Drenched Bluff until they reached the seventh floor. They were in front of a mini fountain that sprayed water out of it, but more importantly, were looking at a shiny object just below it.

"This has to be Spoink's pearl!" exclaimed Chimchar.

"Let's get back to the guild with it, then!" replied Piplup. The two grabbed the pearl, and used their explorer badge to teleport back to the entrance. Upon arriving there, they traveled back to Wigglytuff's Guild to complete today's assignment.

* * *

Team Poképals went inside the guild and into the floor where the bulletin boards were to be greeted by Chatot, and Spoink, a gray pig-like Pokémon that had a spring-like tail to bounce constantly. He looked tired and hardly bounced without his pearl, but once the new team put it back on his head, he was full of energy again.

"Thank you!" Spoink said, expressing his gratitude. "That pearl must be propped on my head, you see. I missed it so much, I just couldn't settle down without it up there. I ended up boinging and sproinging everywhere until I got tired, and that's why I'm covered in dings and bumps. However, thanks to you, that long nightmare is finally over! You have my sincere thanks!"

He walked over to Piplup and took out four things out of his bag. "I want you guys to have these as your rewards!" Spoink gave Team Poképals a protein, a drink that permanently strengthened physical attacks for one Pokémon, a calcium, another drink to strengthen projectile attacks, an iron, a drink to strengthen a Pokémon defensively, and an incredible amount of two-thousand Poké within a mini-bag!

"Wow!" exclaimed Chimchar as he turned to Piplup. "Look at all those helpful items, Piplup! Not to mention a whopping 2,000 Poké that he gave us!"

"That's right!" Spoink exclaimed. "That money alone is nothing compared to my pearl's value! Enjoy it!" He bounced up the later, humming joyfully as he left the guild. Chimchar still couldn't believe at the amount of money that they've earned from the job alone!

"We're rich, Piplup! We got rich just like that!" Piplup replied to this by wearing a big smile on his face.

"Well done, Team Poképals!" exclaimed Chatot. He went over to Piplup. "Now I must take that money, please!" He suddenly grabbed the bag of Poké from him!

"What?!" Piplup and Chimchar exclaimed in shock.

"Most of the money from jobs goes to our guild, you see," explained Chatot. "Your team's share, I'm afraid, will have to be just 200 Poké."

"That's awful!" replied Chimchar. "Why do we only get to keep that much?"

"It's the guild's rule. Plus, we need it to keep going for the future, so you'll simply just have to accept it!"

Piplup sighed in disappointment. "Awww, man. Well, I guess that can't be helped."

He turned to Chimchar, who was more disappointed than him on only keeping 200 Poké. He put one of his flippers on him to comfort him and said, "Hey, cheer up, pal! We did a very good thing today, and besides, we collected lots of items and money of our own!"

"Yeah, you're right, Piplup," replied Chimchar with a smile. "We have to take all of that as a considerable amount of consolation, and not worry about what just happened to show us up."

* * *

Team Poképals and Chatot went down the right ladder where the guild's quarters were situated, and into the central room. Before he left them alone, Chatot told them that supper would soon be ready, so Piplup and Chimchar had a chat with each other, along with the rest of the guild members to introduce themselves, until dinner would be served.

Moments later, a bell rung, and its sound belonged to a floating white and red Pokémon called Chimecho. She had a bell attached atop of her head, and approached the guild members. "Thanks for waiting everyone," she said. "I finished making our dinner, so it's all ready to eat!"

Everyone cheered, and since they were pretty hungry, they rushed to the mess hall to the right from where the ladder was, got to the big wide table, sat down on the either long bench attached to it, and started munching away on the various fruits and gummis that occupied each spot.

After a few moments, the supper had been finished, with various members praising their meal.

"I'm all done eating! That was an excellent meal!"

"I'm stuffed, and now I'm getting sleepy."

"Yep, I'm off to bed now. Good night, gang!"

"Good night!"

Everyone went to their perspective beds on the other side of the floor, and by then, nighttime had arrived.

* * *

Team Poképals was still awake, as they sat down on their beds, took off their items to place on a wall, and decided to have a recap of today's action.

"So, Piplup," Chimchar started, "wasn't today hectic?" Piplup nodded, and Chimchar continued, "So much happened!"

"But I'm relieved that our first job was a success," Piplup replied.

"I'm still a little upset that the guild took most of our reward money, but as you said, it can't be helped. Probably just the cost of training, I guess."

"But Spoink thanking us had to be the highlight of our day though! I was so happy!"

Both the pals had a big smile on their achievement for today. They yawned in unison, for they were also getting tired.

"Well, I'm getting sleepy," Chimchar said.

"Me too," Piplup replied.

"Let's get to sleep now, so that we can do the best like we did for tomorrow."

"OK then, Chimchar. Good night."

"Good night, Piplup."

Both of them lay on their beds, closed their eyes, and fell into sleepland. Tomorrow would sure be another exciting day waiting for them.


	3. The Scream

_Music recommended to listen to for the following segments..._

 _Introducing Treasure Town to Piplup - Kids Run Through The City (town theme) (Final Fantasy VI)_

 _Meeting the Brothers, Brothers Reunited - Heartwarming (PMD: Explorers games)_

 _He's a Wanted Criminal! - Metamorphosis (Final Fantasy VI)_

 _Exploring Mt. Travail - Mt. Kolts (Final Fantasy VI)_

 _Catching up to the Criminal - Wigglytuff's Guild Theme Remix (PMD: Explorers games)_

 _Getting Ready to Battle - Rising Fear (PMD: Explorers games)_

 _The Battle's On! - The Decisive Battle (boss battle theme) (Final Fantasy VI)_

 _Victory! - Victory Fanfare (Final Fantasy VI), or any other victory theme_

 _I Have No Family... - Awakening (Final Fantasy VI)_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 3**_

 _ **The Scream**_

The next morning, Team Poképals was once again rudely awakened by Loudred.

"UP AND AT 'EM, IT'S MORNIN'!"

Piplup and Chimchar, at least, only heard one sentence from him today, unlike yesterday, when he constantly yelled at them to get up.

"Ugh! Good morning, Piplup..." said Chimchar, obviously shaken up by the loud bellowing voice.

"Ha ha, good morning to you too, Chimchar!" replied Piplup, able to laugh off the rude awakening.

The two grabbed their signature items, including their explorer badge, put them on, and later grabbed their Treasure Bag with all their money and other items they've obtained from yesterday's job. They had the drinks from Spoink yesterday to strengthen themselves for future explorations, so they decided to take them out and drink them in order to get energized for the day. They went to central room of the floor to begin their now usual morning cheers.

"... **And three! Smiles go for miles!** " said the entire guild.

"OK, everyone!" said Chatot. "Time to get to work!"

" **Yes sir!** " everyone cheered.

Everyone, save for Piplup and Chimchar, dispersed for their duties today. Team Poképals now wondered what to do next.

"Now I wonder what we should do today?" questioned Chimchar to Piplup.

"Well wonder no more!" answered Chatot. The two turned to him. "Please follow me!"

They decided to follow him up the ladder for today's assignment.

Once they arrived on the upper floor, they were facing towards the other bulletin board that was red. Chimchar was a little surprised by this.

"Huh? Last time we did a job, it was from the board on the other side."

"Correct!" exclaimed Chatot. "Today, we'll have you do a job listed on this side."

"How is this different from the board on the other side?" questioned Piplup.

"Just take a closer look!" the parrot answered.

Team Poképals took a glance of the pictures and notes on the red board.

"Look, Piplup!" said Chimchar after a brief while. "There are posters up here that show a variety of Pokémon! They all look pretty cool!" He turned to Chatot. "Who are these Pokémon, Chatot? Are they famous explorers, or something?"

"I'm afraid not. These Pokémon here… are outlaws. They're all shady characters, who are wanted for committing crimes."

"Oh no!" Chimchar said in horror. "They're outlaws?!"

"Correct," answered Chatot. "There are bounties on their heads, in other words, there is a cash reward if you capture one. There are so many aggressive Pokémon like these around these days that everyone's finding it hard to keep up with the problem."

"Wait! You're telling us to go catch these outlaws?" Chimchar felt like fainting at the prospect of doing this job. "You can't be serious! It's not possible!"

"Hee-hee! Just joking!" laughed Chatot. "The bad Pokémon out there come in all shades of badness! Some of those Pokémon are completely wicked, through and through, but there are also bad Pokémon who are merely petty thieves. Because of that, you've got evil to naughty, and everything in between! So I'm sure we can avoid giving you a job catching a superbad Pokémon, at least! Look over these posters, then pick one that looks weak enough for you to bring to justice!"

Chimchar still looked unsure about his and Piplup's challenging job today. "You say some are weak, but they're still bad Pokémon, aren't they? I'm scared of 'em!"

"It's all a part of your training," Chatot answered. "I'm sure you'll work through it, but at the same time, I suppose you _do_ need to be prepared to confront a tough opponent. I'll have someone give you a tour of the facilities." He turned to the ladder leading down to the bottom floor, and yelled, "Hey, Bidoof! Bidoof?!"

"Yup, yup!" said the Pokémon in question.

Bidoof came up the ladder and into the sight of the three Pokémon. He was a plump mouse Pokémon that looked more like a beaver than a mouse, due to his fur being a brownish color, and having teeth like a Rattata, a purple rat Pokémon. He breathed a little heavy, a sign that he was still relatively new to the guild.

"You called?"

"Yes, Bidoof!" answered Chatot. "I want you to meet the new recruits here that just joined us. They are Piplup and Chimchar, and their team is called Team Poképals!" He turned to the team. "You two, this is Bidoof, and he's one of our fellow apprentices!"

"Nice to meet you, Bidoof!" said the two newer recruits in unison to Bidoof.

"Nice to meet ya too!"

"OK, Bidoof," Chatot said. "Take them and show them around the town to the right of our guild."

"Yes sirree! By golly, I'll do just that, yup yup!"

"I want you, Team Poképals, to pay attention to what Bidoof has to say and follow his orders." Chatot said to Piplup and Chimchar. "Now, off you go!" He went down the right ladder and left the three alone.

"Aw, shucks! I'm overjoyed!" said Bidoof as he turned to the Poképals. with apparent tears of joys in his eyes.

"Why's that?" questioned Chimchar.

"I'm glad to have members new to me! I'm almost overcome right now, I might just blubber with happiness! Before y'all signed on, I was the most recent rookie." Bidoof had a joyful sniffle, and shook off the tears to continue. "I'd best show ya around now. Come with me, please."

Bidoof went down the right ladder to the bottom and Team Poképals followed as he explained the surroundings of the guild's quarters. They went to a cauldron with a blue frog-like Pokémon occupying it.

"Here, we have Croagunk, but to tell the truth, I don't have any slight idea what he's up to. He always seems to be fiddling around with that big cauldron back there. It's all a mystery to me, yup yup!"

He pointed to the mess hall beyond Croagunk and the cauldron. "Obviously, that's the way to the mess hall, where you had your meal last night, and to the left of us," Bidoof and the Poképals turned, "you'll find the crew rooms, including yours of course."

They turned a little more to the left to see the guildmaster's chamber. "Ya know what this room is right? That leads to the guildmaster's chamber, where teams will register, and, at some times, have private meetings for various reasons. Now, let's get outside the guild and into Treasure Town, located to the right of the entrance!"

The three Pokémon went up the two ladders, and out of the guild to the path on the right towards Treasure Town, filled with various shops, other buildings, and resident and visiting Pokémon.

"Welcome to Treasure Town! This here is the main square for all the local Pokémon."

"By the way, Piplup," said Chimchar to the former human, "I can tell you about Treasure Town, too."

"Sure, go ahead!"

They turned over to a building shaped like a skull-shaped ghost Pokémon, and Chimchar explained the description of the place.

"That over there is Duskull Bank. We can keep our money there, so we don't have to worry about losing most of it when we fall in an exploration."

The fire monkey pointed to the next shop, that was shaped like a yellow, electric-type Pokémon.

"That's the Electivire Link Shop. It's where you can do things like link moves together, but it looks as if Electivire isn't here today."

Chimchar pointed further down the town to the other shops that occupied it.

"The shop with a green chameleon-like Pokémon design is called the Kecleon Market. You can buy and sell items there. It's occupied by two Kecleon, who are brothers. The normal, green Kecleon offers general items, while his brother, the shiny purple Kecleon, offers orbs and moves that we can learn."

He pointed to the building farthest from their side, that had its design shaped like a brown kangaroo-like Pokémon.

"Last but not least, we have Kangaskhan Storage over there. Any items stored there will never be lost. If you have precious items that you can't afford to lose, store them there before you go on an adventure."

Chimchar turned his focus back to Piplup. "Those are the basic places that many exploration teams visit."

"You sure know a lot, yes sirree!" Bidoof praised to Chimchar and his knowledge of Treasure Town. "That's good to know!" The plump mouse Pokémon then turned to the both of them. "All right, Team Poképals. I'll leave you be for the time being. Come find me when you're all ready to go. I'll give you a helping hand with selecting the right outlaw for you."

"Thanks, Bidoof," said Piplup with a big smile. "You've been really nice with us so far. Keep it up!"

"G-golly, you're embarrassin' me!" Bidoof replied with a slight blush. "Aw, shucks..." He shook it off and concluded, "I'll be waiting at the guild's upper underground floor then." He walked off to the guild, leaving Team Poképals alone in the central square of the town.

"All right, Piplup," said Chimchar, turning to his partner. "Let's go explore the town! I'd like to see what kinds of items are available at the Kecleon Market!"

"OK, buddy," replied Piplup, "but we should take some of the items out of our bag first and put it in the Kangaskhan Storage first. We'll make sure we head to the market before we head back!" His partner nodded in agreement.

Piplup and Chimchar walked over to Kangaskhan Storage, where its occupant was a kangaroo-like Pokémon named Kangaskhan. She managed the service for the teams, and was proud to have the sight of a new team like Poképals seeing her.

"Why, hello there! Welcome to the Kangaskhan Storage! Nice to see you both, especially you, Chimchar!"

"Hi, Aunt Kangaskhan!" said Chimchar.

"Hey, Chimchar," Piplup said to his partner, a little surprised by the revelation, "is Kangaskhan here your aunt? I never knew that!"

"Well, yes, unofficially. She kinda adopted me when I was quite young. Some of the Pokémon around here also call her 'Aunt Kangaskhan', too, due to her very kind personality."

Kangaskhan got back to her business at hand with the following: "So, do you need to store anything in your storage today, Poképals?"

The two nodded in agreement, and took some of their items out of their Treasure Bag for Kangaskhan to store for later adventures.

"Well, that's all we need to put in our storage for today!" said Piplup, a few moments later.

"Thanks for your service!" exclaimed Kangaskhan proudly. "I'll be sure to guard those items with great pride!"

"We're off to the Kecleon Market, then!" said Chimchar. "See ya later, aunt!"

"Have a good day, Chimchar!" Kangaskhan replied. She decided to stop Piplup for a moment, while Chimchar headed to the market. "Hey, Piplup!"

"What is it, Kangaskhan?"

"I want you to look after Chimchar for me! He's been quite lonely recently and needs someone like you to trust. As he said, I _did_ adopt him when he was a wee little baby, and I unfortunately don't know where his parents might be, so it'll help him a lot if you can stick by his side for a good long while."

Piplup had understood Kangaskhan's little speech and vowed to keep Chimchar near him to keep their team going strong.

"OK, then! I'll make sure he can do his best while he's with me!"

The former human left the storage service and made his way to the Kecleon Market, where Chimchar was waiting for him.

"You're just in time, Piplup! The Kecleon brothers said that they have a great selection of items for us to buy today!"

"That's right!" the Kecleon brothers said in unison. "We have wonderful items we want you to have for your exploration today!"

"You can buy general items that can help you in your day's adventure..." said the green Kecleon.

"…and you can buy wonder orbs for tighter situations, and, if you can afford them, moves for you or other Pokémon to learn quickly!" said the purple Kecleon.

Team Poképals understood the meaning of these separate shops and bought as many items as they could. They could not afford the moves, however, so they just bought those items instead. Before they left, they heard the an adorable voice of a little Pokémon.

"Misters Kecleon!"

They all turned to the right (or left in the case of the two Kecleon) to see two little blue Pokémon approaching them. The market brothers appeared to know them, as they had a big smile for them.

"Ah! If it isn't little Marill and Azurill!" said the green Kecleon. "Welcome, my young friends!"

Azurill is a blue polka dot Pokémon, which had a ball-like tail attached at the end of his black spring base. His brother, Marill, is an aqua mouse Pokémon that had a similar tail attached. They were here to apparently buy something.

"Hello, can I buy an apple?" said Azurill.

"Oh, most certainly!" said the green Kecleon.

Marill and Azurill handed out a few Pokémon to the two Kecleon brothers and they gave them an apple.

"Thanks, misters Kecleon!" said Marill with a big smile.

"No, thank you, my young friends!" said the green Kecleon proudly. " _You_ are to be admired!"

Azurill and Marill left the shop by then.

"You see," the purple Kecleon said to Team Poképals, "those delightful children are brothers. Lately, their poor mother, Azumarill, has fallen sick, so they come here and do the shopping for her. It's quite remarkable that they've stepped up and taken charge, despite them being very young,"

"Misters Kecleon!" said Marill, as he and Azurill suddenly hurried back to the shop. It appeared that they'd forgotten something!

"What's the hurry?" said the green Kecleon, "What makes you return so quickly?

"There was an extra apple!" insisted Azurill.

"We didn't pay for this many," Marill also insisted.

"Oh, yes," said the green Kecleon. "That, my young friends, is a gift from me and my brother. Please share it among yourselves and enjoy."

"Really?!" exclaimed Marill.

"Yay!" cried Azurill. "Thank you, Mr. Kecleon and Mr. Kecleon!"

"Not to worry, my friends," said the purple Kecleon. "Do take care on your way home, now."

Azurill and Marill once again left the shop, but Azurill tripped while he was on his away, and dropped an apple!

"Yowch!" he cried in pain.

Piplup noticed this and picked up the apple while Azurill got back up. The penguin held out the apple to Azurill and waited for him to retrieve it.

"I believe you dropped this apple here. Hopefully you're not hurt, little pal."

"I'm f-fine, Piplup! Sorry to bother you there. Thanks so much for retrieving it."

Just as Piplup was about to give the apple back to Azurill, he suddenly felt pain in his head!

 _Urgh! What… was that?_ he thought.

Another feeling of pain blurred his vision.

 _Am I dizzy, or…?_

He closed his eyes, and had a flash of white in his vision! He then suddenly heard a voice like that of Azurill's calling for help! Piplup opened his eyes, noticing that the pain was gone, and tried to process what just happened in his head!

 _What was that?! I'm sure I heard a shout for help just now…_ He turned to Azurill, who thought he was the one who shouted just now.

"Uhhh… what's the matter, Piplup?" questioned Azurill.

"Did you just shout for help?"

"No! Nothing's wrong with me! I'm fine!"

"Hey, Azurill!" Marill called out from afar. "What's going on? Hurry home!"

"OK!" exclaimed Azurill. "I'm coming, wait up!"

The two blue brothers met up from the right of the shop, with Marill showing some concern.

"Are you all right, Azurill?"

"Yup! I'm just fine!"

"Since we're done with our shopping, we gotta look for an item that we've lost! Let's go!"

Azurill nodded and followed his brother to find their lost item.

"Those little guys are so cute!" exclaimed Chimchar with a big smile.

Piplup still appeared to be lost in the moment ever since that strange occurrence in his head took place. Chimchar noticed this and turned to his partner.

"What's wrong, Piplup? Why did you ask Azurill if he shouted for help?"

"I-I don't know. I might've just heard it in my head, or something like that."

"Well, I didn't hear anything like that, that's for sure. Maybe we better ask the Kecleon brothers if they heard anything."

The two asked if the market brothers heard anybody shouting for help, but neither of them heard anything.

"It sounds like they didn't hear anything odd either," said Chimchar. "Like you said, Piplup, you must've just imagined it."

 _Yeah, he could be right,_ thought Piplup, with one of his flippers on the chin of his beak. _I must have heard Azurill screaming only in my head._

"You must be daydreaming, Piplup," assured Chimchar with a big smile. "C'mon, let's get to the Duskull Bank and deposit the rest of our money we have left!"

Piplup nodded in agreement and Team Poképals made their way towards the bank, until they saw the sight of Azurill and Marill talking to a yellow Pokémon ahead. They decided to watch and listen to their conversation.

"Thanks so much!" said Marill to the Pokémon in front of him.

"Please! It's nothing at all."

Piplup and Chimchar got close to them and joined the chat.

"Hey, guys!" said Chimchar. "What's going on here?"

"Oh, hi, Poképals!" Azurill exclaimed to them. Marill also turned to the team.

"Some time ago, we lost an item that was very important to us. We've been looking all over for it, but still no luck!" He turned to the yellow Pokémon. "But then Mr. Drowzee came along here. He says he may have seen our lost item somewhere! He even offered to help us look for it, and for that, we're so happy!"

"Good for you, guys!" said Piplup proudly.

"Thank you, Mr. Drowzee!" Azurill said to Drowzee.

"Oh, please, I'd have to have a cold heart to ignore kids in need! I can't turn a blind eye! Let us be on our way to begin our search!"

Azurill and Marill nodded at him and made their way to find the lost item. Drowzee followed them and accidentally bumped into Piplup.

"Whoops!" exclaimed Drowzee. "Sorry for bumping into you!"

As he left, Piplup began having another strange headache!

 _Urk… n-not again…_

"That Drowzee sure is a nice Pokémon, isn't he?" said Chimchar. "I'm impressed by that. With more and more bad Pokémon around, it's hard to do good deeds these days."

The mysterious headache continued for Piplup, however…

 _It's happening once more… Another dizzy spell…_

He closed his eyes, and had another strange vision! This time, it was full of visuals within, and he could see Azurill and Drowzee in a mountainous area. It looked as if Drowzee was appearing to threaten Azurill!

" _If you keep being difficult, it will mean big trouble for you!" Drowzee threatened._

" _H-h-h-HELP!" Azurill yelled tearfully._

 _And just then, the vision came to an end…_

Piplup couldn't believe what he saw in his vision!

 _What was that?!_

"It would be nice if those little guys found their item soon," said Chimchar. He noticed that something was wrong with Piplup, and got concerned. "What's the matter, Piplup? You're looking awfully grim!"

"I-I have to tell you something, quick!"

Piplup decided to talk about the strange but terrible vision he had to Chimchar.

* * *

A few moments later, Chimchar was shocked by this discovery!

"What?! You had a dizzy spell about Azurill being threatened by Drowzee?!"

Piplup nodded in agreement.

"So you want to go rescue Azurill right away?"

"Yes! It's an emergency!"

"Well, what you describe does sound like it, but it's not like I don't trust you, Piplup. I just can't begin to understand it! After all, Drowzee seemed to be a sincerely nice Pokémon, didn't he? I watched him and those little guys go off earlier, and they seemed to have a good time." Chimchar later wore a big smile. "You're probably just tired, Piplup! That's why you just had that bad daydream, whatever it was."

 _He's right,_ Piplup thought. _It was just a bad daydream. Drowzee had to be friendly the first time we met him, so it's hard to believe that he would turn bad all of a sudden like that!_

Chimchar snapped his partner out of his thoughts. "Anyway, we're only apprentices. We can't just go do whatever we want. Sure, it's worrying, but we have to concentrate on our guild work for now. Let's go to the Duskull Bank to deposit our money, then we can go meet Bidoof in the guild for our job. He's supposed to be waiting for us on the upper underground floor, so let's get going, Piplup!"

The former human nodded in agreement, and he and Chimchar made their way to the Duskull Bank to deposit the rest of their money. The owner of the bank, a Duskull, had a little bit of a creepy personality, but since he was a ghost-type Pokémon, that was to be expected. Despite this, he proudly put Team Poképals Poké in their storage and the team made its way back to the guild so that they could get their job from Bidoof.

* * *

Moments later, within the guild's upper floor, Bidoof decided to pick them to an easy target outlaw Pokémon to apprehend.

"Don't choose anyone too scary!" Chimchar insisted.

"Yes sirree," Bidoof replied, "I hear ya! Let's see, eennie, meenie-"

"Stand back! The listings are being updated!" a voice suddenly boomed!

Some tremors were being felt in the guild, surprising Team Poképals.

"What's going on?" exclaimed Chimchar.

"Our listings are being updated here!" insisted Bidoof. "Stand back like that voice said!"

Both Piplup and Chimchar stepped back quickly, just as the outlaw bulletin board turned over, startling Chimchar!

"Yikes! Did ya see that?! The panel flipped over! What's going on here?!"

"The outlaw notice and job bulletin boards are set up on revolving panels," assured Bidoof to Chimchar. "While one of the panels is flipped over, a Pokémon named Dugtrio swaps out the old jobs with new ones."

"Who is he?" questioned Piplup.

"He's a mole Pokémon, and has three heads. It's his duty to update the listings, so he tunnels his way to our guild, and flips both panels to update each listing. It doesn't get noticed much, but it's very important, yup yup! That's why he takes such great pride in the duty he does!"

"Oh," replied Chimchar, "is that so?"

"The update is complete!" boomed Dugtrio. "Stand back from the panel, please!"

"It sounds like he's done," insisted Piplup.

The three looked back at the panel to see it flip back to where they could see the new papers being placed on it!

"Yes sirree!" said Bidoof. "The listings are updated, so the list of outlaws has been refreshed. Let's go ahead and pick one."

Just as they were about to pick one outlaw, Chimchar appeared to be shaking uneasily at the sight of one particular outlaw!

"Huh?" Bidoof said to Chimchar. "What's ailing you? Why are you shivering all of a sudden?"

"L-l-look at the picture on the top left, Piplup!"

Piplup looked at the photo in shock and disbelief, as an image of Drowzee was shown on the paper!

"It's Drowzee!" he said. "He's a wanted criminal!"

Chimchar finally stopped shaking and had a determined look on his face. He turned to Piplup, and said, "We have to get moving! Azurill will be in danger!" Team Poképals quickly went out of the guild, surprising Bidoof.

* * *

The pals arrived at the sight of another Pokémon near the exit of Treasure Town and Wigglytuff's Guild altogether. It was Azumarill, Azurill's and Marill's mother, as she seemed to finally recover from her illness. She is a rabbit-like Pokémon.

"That must be Azumarill over there!" exclaimed Chimchar.

Team Poképals approached her immediately as she turned around. She had a worried look on her face!

"Azumarill, what happened to Azurill and Marill?" said Piplup.

"They went off with Drowzee to Mt. Bristle to look for our lost item, but they haven't come back yet! I kept calling to them from there, but they never did! I'm scared for their safety!"

"Can you show us where Mt. Bristle is?" questioned Chimchar.

"Yes! Follow me quickly!" answered Azumarill. The Poképals followed her and went to where Mt. Bristle was.

* * *

Soon after, Team Poképals and Azumarill were at the entrance of Mt. Bristle. To some relief, Marill was there.

"Oh, Marill! You're OK!" exclaimed Azumarill. "But where's Azurill?!"

"He's still with Mr. Drowzee!" answered Marill worryingly.

"So we're here at Mt. Bristle, then," Chimchar said.

"Yes," Azumarill answered. "Hopefully poor little Azurill's still around this dungeon somewhere! Be careful in there!"

Chimchar turned to Piplup to remind him about his vision.

"Piplup, that dream where you say Drowzee and Azurill were took place in a mountainous area, right?"

"That's right!"

Chimchar turned back toward Azumarill.

"I have a bad feeling that they may be near the top, Azumarill, but don't worry! We'll get them back ASAP!"

"Thanks so much! We're counting on you! Mt. Bristle has ten floors, including the peak, so they should be on the tenth floor!"

Chimchar turned back once again to Piplup.

"Let's hurry and get to the summit, Piplup!"

Team Poképals went into Mt. Bristle's mystery dungeon to save Azurill from the outlaw Drowzee.

* * *

For the first nine floors, Piplup and Chimchar, as usual, had to battle various Pokémon before they could reach the peak. They had many useful items at their disposal, so they could dispatch their enemies with ease, and make quick progress so that they could get to the top in a hurry.

Just as the team was on the 9th floor, Azurill and Drowzee were already at the top of Mt. Bristle as they looked for the lost item. Azurill headed to where a small opening was at, but felt like there was no way to go on.

"Uh oh, it's a dead end." He turned to Drowzee. "Excuse me, Mr. Drowzee, where's my lost item? Could you show me where it is now?"

"Sorry, kiddo. As far as I know, it's not here."

"What? My… big brother… is following us, right? Is he coming along soon?"

"Nope. I'm afraid he's not. I _will_ let in you on a little secret though. This was all a trick. In other words, I deceived you."

Azurill was in tears at this unthinkable deed done by Drowzee, who, in his mind at least, was supposed to be nice.

"But let's not dwell on that," Drowzee continued. "There's a little favor I need to ask. See that hole behind you?"

Azurill turned around to the small opening on the rocky wall and listened as Drowzee continued, "There's a rumor that there's a trove of thief treasure inside there! As you can see, though, I'm too big to squirm my way through that hole, so that's where you come in!"

"B-but…!"

"Don't worry, just do as I say! If you get it done, I'll help you get back out of here. Go on, get going into that hole, and don't forget to bring back the treasure!"

Azurill had enough of Drowzee's nasty demands and wanted to escape!

"I want my big brother!"

Drowzee, however, stopped his small victim.

"Stop this instant! Sheesh! I said that I'll take you home when you're done! If you keep being difficult, it will mean big trouble for you!"

"H-h-h-HELP!"

"Stop right there!" Chimchar shouted.

Team Poképals had arrived at the top just in the nick of time!

"We won't let you do that, you bully!" Piplup bellowed toward Drowzee.

"How did you find this place?!" demanded Drowzee.

"We're an exploration team called Team Poképals!" answered Chimchar. "No criminal will escape us, not even you!"

"You're an exploration team?! You must be here then to apprehend-"

Chimchar was suddenly shaking with fear!

"...Huh?" said Drowzee, surprised. "Are you trembling?"

Piplup turned to Chimchar, worried about him. _Chimchar, no! Keep yourself together!_

"A-ha!" yelled Drowzee. "I've figured it out! You say you're an exploration team, but you're nothing but total rookies! That's right, even though I'm a wanted Pokémon with a bounty on my head, can you two do the job? Can you confront me and bring me to justice? Hah! Not with that sort of fear!"

"Urk!" said Chimchar, who was still shaking with fear, but quickly gathered himself and had a determined look. "Y-yes, we can! I know we can apprehend you! We'll never lose to a bad guy like you!"

Drowzee laughed at the thought of a new team like Poképals attempting to arrest him. "I've been chased by all sorts of exploration teams in my day, but never a sorrier-looking bunch than you two! This should be a laugh. Let's see what you've two got!"

"C'mon, Chimchar!" said Piplup. "You're with me, remember?! Let's work together and take him down!"

"R-right, Piplup! Let's go for it!"

Azurill stepped out of the way of the three Pokémon, and could only watch as their battle began!

Team Poképals would have to be extra careful with Drowzee, since his forearms were very strong to protect him from some moves. Because he lacked speed, he used those arms to nullify the damage dealt to him at times. Despite this challenge, Piplup and Chimchar persevered through the battle to bring down Drowzee the outlaw! He let out a roar of pain from Piplup's last move and collapsed on his stomach with a thud.

"Whew, we won!" said Chimchar, panting a little.

"It was all thanks to pure teamwork!" exclaimed Piplup. "We defeated him together!"

The Poképals jumped up in the air and had a high-five!

"YEAH!" they cheered!

They stood up back on the ground and went toward Azurill, who was in awe of the team's awesome effort of taking down Drowzee.

"Are you all right, Azurill?" questioned Chimchar.

"I'm fine," he said.

"Awesome!" said Piplup with a big smile. "That's a relief! Your big brother and mother are waiting for you. Let's head back!"

Azurill nodded and stood with Team Poképals and the unconscious Drowzee as they all teleported to the entrance of Mt. Bristle.

* * *

A few seconds later at the entrance, they, alongside Drowzee, who was now conscious, met with a few floating Pokémon with magnets for their hands, who were presumed to be the police.

"I am Magnezone, the primary officer of this region!" the commanding Pokémon proclaimed. "These Pokémon beside are Magnemite, fellow officers of our force! Thanks to you, we have been able to arrest a wanted outlaw! We owe you great thanks for your cooperation!"

The police Pokémon decided to sound a few sirens in celebration of Team Poképals achievement of arresting Drowzee. Magnezone continued on his thanks toward the team.

"We will send the reward to your guild very soon! Thanks once more!" He turned to Drowzee. "Now please come with us! You've got some explaining to do!"

The outlaw let out a groan in defeat as he followed the police to their headquarters.

"Azurill!" Marill said. Everyone turned to the sight of him and Azumarill.

"M-Marill!" Azurill tearfully said as he ran towards his brother, gave him a hug, and cried his eyes out! "Waaaaah! It was so scary, big bro!"

"The thing that matters is that you're safe and sound, little bro." Marill patted his crying little brother in an attempt to comfort him.

"He must have been so scared up there, but you're right," said Chimchar. "The little guy didn't get harmed in any way."

The two blue brothers, who continued to embrace each other then cried tears of joy of having been reunited with each other.

"I'm so glad you two are happy to be back with each other!" exclaimed Piplup with a big smile.

The two brothers broke away from their embrace and turned to the Poképals to thank them once more. Azumarill, the two brothers' mother, stepped forward.

"Once more, I am grateful that you saved Azurill from the grasp of Drowzee! We must be going now, but I know we'll see each other again!"

The three Pokémon made their way home, but before they were out of sight, Azurill and Marill turned back to say their goodbyes to the Poképals.

"Thanks once more, Team Poképals! Bye!"

"See you later, everyone!" said Piplup and Chimchar in unison. Piplup turned to his partner and had a little chat with him.

"Well, all's well that ends well, right?"

"Yep! I'm so glad that nothing worse happened to Azurill."

"Those two brothers must be really good friends, right?"

"Yeah. Watching them together kinda makes everything look a little better, doesn't it? It's nice to have family and friends like that."

With Chimchar's previous statement in mind, Piplup decided to think it over.

 _Family and friends, huh? Now that I think about it, I wonder where Chimchar's family is... Kangaskhan said earlier that his family was nowhere to be found, and that she adopted him when he was very young. I can't stop worrying about where Chimchar's family might be at this time…_

He looked at his partner, who still appeared to be smiling, but couldn't help but ponder about Chimchar, who was feeling somewhat sad.

 _Huh? Was that a small tear that fell from one of his eyes?_

Chimchar shook off that feeling and looked at Piplup with a forced smile.

"C'mon, Piplup. We should get back to the guild and get our reward. I don't really care if we only get a little bit of money thanks to the guild. All that matters is that we helped those brothers, and I'm proud of it."

Piplup nodded in agreement and the two went back to the guild to wrap up their day, but he couldn't stop feeling sad for his seemingly lonely partner.

* * *

Team Poképals arrived back at the guild, receiving only 300 Poké from the amount of 3,000 that was placed on the bounty of Drowzee. They understood that this would work out this way from now on, and later had supper in the mess hall. When nighttime came, the weather was clear and the moon shone, but despite that, the air was unusually cold. Because of this, Piplup and Chimchar had a tough time sleeping.

"Hey, Piplup..." said Chimchar after a while, clearly still awake, despite laying on his bed. "Are you still awake?"

"Yeah, Chimchar. What's wrong?"

"I just can't seem to sleep in this cold air..."

Despite being a fire-type, Chimchar was still feeling cold as he shook a little bit from the cold air, but continued on...

"Piplup, you know, when I was watching Azumarill and her sons today, it made me think whether you have friends and family too, but I later realized that you lost your memories, so I decided not to bother with it. I, myself, however… have no one like that… no parents, brothers, or sisters..."

Piplup gasped at this sad realization that Chimchar had no real family. He let his partner continue his talk.

"I've been alone from the moment I hatched from my egg. I never had any friends either. I wanted them, but I couldn't make any. I've had such a hard time making any friends up until you first came to the Grass Continent here, Piplup."

"Awww, that's very kind of you to say that, Chimchar," he said as he sat up and looked at his partner. "That's why I couldn't help but wonder why you felt sad when we were at Mt. Bristle. I'm so happy that you think of me as your friend, especially after what you've went through in your early life."

Chimchar also sat up and looked towards Piplup with a big heartfelt smile. "Thanks _so much,_ Piplup. I really appreciate it." He continued their conversation. "I knew that I never had to lose my resolve to look for real friends to make, and so I sought to look for someone like a true friend like you that I could trust with the real me. I thought how great it would be to actually do something real with you, like getting into Wigglytuff's Guild, and that's why working every day here is really so much fun for me. Thank you, Piplup, for being here with me. You've been acting like a big brother that I wished I could've had."

Piplup felt extremely heartfelt by the comment, as although he had tears in eyes, he had a big, wide smile on his face. "That's so kind of you, Chimchar. You're the kind of friend and little brother that I would want to have too, and I can't thank you enough for having me on your, no, _our_ team."

Piplup and Chimchar got off their beds with tears in their eyes, approached each other, and had a heartwarming hug, while exchanging quiet sobs.

"I hope that these days will continue," Chimchar said,

"Me too, little bro..."

Chimchar smiled even larger than his partner who just called him a little brother. Even though Piplup was once a former human, and had no memories of his own family, he felt that if no matter if it was a human or a Pokémon, he could relate to someone like Chimchar as being a true, loving brother that he ever wanted to have. After what seemed like a long time, the two Poképals separated from their embrace, and got back onto their respective straw beds.

"Ahhhh," Chimchar sighed, as tears were no longer on his face, and still smiled. "I think I can finally get to sleep now." He looked at his partner, who was now getting sleepy. "I guess you're tired too, huh?"

"Yep… Let's give it our all again tomorrow, Chimchar."

"Good night, Piplup."

"Good night."

The two pals finally lay back down on their own beds, and fell asleep, They now felt completely assured with each other, and dreamed that it would continue like this for a very long time.


	4. The Gatekeepers

_**Chapter 4**_

 _ **The Gatekeepers**_

By the next day, Team Poképals would have to get used to getting woken up abruptly by Loudred. For the next couple of days, they were allowed by Chatot to take new jobs at their own will from both the exploration and outlaw boards. The jobs themselves helped Piplup and Chimchar get some helpful items, money, and exploration points to help get their team noticed more, and more importantly, build their rank up to Bronze to expand their item storage space at Kangaskhan Storage.

* * *

Later on one day, just as they were about to take new jobs after the morning cheer, another day-by-day routine which they proudly got used to, Loudred yelled to them, "HEY, you two! We need your help with something today!"

He brought Team Poképals to Diglett and a hole that was supposedly dug by himself or his father Dugtrio.

"Diglett, I brought them!" Loudred then said as Diglett replied, "Thanks, Loudred."

"You two are doing sentry duty today!" said Loudred as he turned to Piplup and Chimchar."

"Sorry," Diglett said apologetically. "I'm usually the one doing sentry duty, but today, since Dad's feeling a little sick, he gave me his duty of updating the boards. That's why I can't man my post. It would be great if someone like you two could take over my sentry duty for today at least. I entrust the both of you to do a good job for me! Bye!" Diglett then burrowed underneath to start his father's duty to update the job boards.

"...and that's THAT," proudly exclaimed Loudred. Chimchar was a little stunned of what was going on.

"Huh?! I didn't follow that at all!" he said. "Why are we involved in this?"

"Shut your YAP!" yelled Loudred impatiently, and continued, "NO MORE BELLYACHING! GO DO YOUR DUTY!"

"Sheesh, Loudred," replied Piplup, dazed from Loudred's outburst. "I think my pal here gets it..." He and Chimchar shake off the dizziness and continue the conversation.

"What are we supposed to do, anyway? I'm sorry, but I'm still confused," said Chimchar.

"Climb down this hole, stand guard, and you'll be starting your sentry duty!" insisted Loudred.

"What's sentry duty?" both the Poképals questioned.

"It's a job where a sentry can't have suspicious characters coming into the guild. We station one like Diglett below the guild entrance to evaluate Pokémon visitors. When you first came, I recall that both of you had your footprints evaluated, right?"

"Our footprints?" questioned Chimchar. "What do you…?" He thought back of the time he and Piplup had their footprints examined at the guild entrance. "Oh, now I remember! There was that weird hole in front of the gate! I stood on the grating, then someone shouted up at me. It was startling!" He pointed to the hole beside them. "We climb down this hole, and then?"

"The tunnel below will lead to the sentry post," answered Loudred. "Diglett burrows through it and pops out underneath the sentry post. From there. He inspects the footprints of visitors, identifies them, then informs me. From there, I decide if the Pokémon is suspicious or not and open the gate if he passes muster. That's why we serve as the guild's gatekeeepers. Both of you pals just need to do the same thing we do, inspect the footprints of visitors, then tell me what Pokémon they are. Is that clear?"

Piplup and Chimchar finally understood the procedure and nodded to Loudred in approval.

"Good! Now let's get to WORK!"

The Poképals went into the hole towards the sentry post.

* * *

"Whoa!" said Chimchar. "It's awfully dark in here, Piplup! We'll just have to feel our way."

They felt the surface to know which way they were heading, so they could get to the post.

"Well," said Piplup, "are we close to the sentry post yet?"

"Uhhhh…yes! I see light up ahead!"

"HOW'S IT GOIN'?!" yelled Loudred. It seemed he was about to lose his patience. "Have you taken position at the sentry post?!"

"Yes!" replied Chimchar. "We're in position!"

"GOOD! Pokémon visitors will step onto the grill above the sentry post at any moment! Identify them by footprint, then inform me! Got it?"

"Uh-huh!"

"OK then! Get started!"

* * *

Piplup and Chimchar began inspecting footprints of several different Pokémon that came to the entrance of Wigglytuff's Guild. Despite having no memory of his past before turning into a Pokémon himself, Piplup amazingly identified every single visitor correctly in the pals first ever stint of sentry duty! It was almost as if the Pokémon index had been running in his head.

* * *

Later on, Diglett eventually returned from his father's duties and the Poképals' job as sentry duty today was over. They would take a break by resting in the guild, then they were brought to Chatot by Loudred who informed the parrot of the team's performance.

"You've worked an honest day, you two~!" Chatot proudly said. "Let me evaluate your sentry duty performance. According to Loudred, your results were…" Piplup and Chimchar smiled anxiously for the results as Chatot looked and read from Loudred's paper on the duty.

"...'completely perfect!'"

"All right!" said the Poképals as they high-fived each other on this outstanding accomplishment. Loudred applauded their effort!

"Both of you identified every visitor without fail!" Chatot continued. "Because of this, we'll generously reward your amazing efforts!"

The parrot Pokémon gave Piplup and Chimchar 500 Poké, a Joy Seed, an item that instantly leveled up a Pokémon, a Ginseng, which boosted one's random move, and a Life Seed, which boosted the HP of a Pokémon.

"We get all of these?!" exclaimed Piplup. "Awesome!"

Chatot proudly flapped his wings. "Keep up the good work~!"

Team Poképals put their acquired items from the sentry duty performance into their bag and proudly went into their room to relax until supper was ready.

* * *

Later, the bell rang for dinner and all of the guild ate their fill so they could get a good night rest. Later at Piplup and Chimchar's room, they were still ecstatic from their sentry duty.

"Wow, I can't believe we got it right the first time!" said Chimchar. "We were awarded cool items too!"

"Who would've thought sentry duty would be so rewarding?" replied Piplup.

"*yawn* I'm getting sleepy now from all this excitement. We better go to sleep now. We may be back to normal work tomorrow, but we'll try to make it rewarding like it was today!"

"Yes, pal. Good night."

The pals lay down on their beds and went to sleep.


	5. First Official Exploration

_**Chapter 5**_

 _ **The First Official Exploration**_

After their exceptional first-time sentry duty success, Team Poképals went back to their regular guild work for the next few days. They managed to rank up again to the Silver level to allow more space to be available at their item storage in Treasure Town.

On one day however, instead of the usual morning cheers, Chatot had some uneasy, but crucial news to tell to the guild…

"Everyone, listen up. I have an important announcement to make. Far to the northeast, then farther into its outermost reaches, lies a place named Treeshroud Forest. We have been getting troubling reports saying that time there...has apparently _stopped_."

"WHAT?!" everyone exclaimed in shock and disbelief.

"Eek!" Sunflora said. "What did you say?!"

"Hey, hey! You're saying that time stopped?!" Corphish said.

"Yes," answered Chatot. "I am afraid that that's the case."

He showed pictures of Treeshroud Forest frozen in time, much to the despair and horror of the guild. One photo showed the wind blowing on the trees and greens of the forest itself suspended in time, while another showed dewdrops hanging on the leaves, frozen.

"Time has come to a literal standstill in Treeshroud Forest… The wind has stopped, and the clouds are motionless. Dewdrops on leaves also won't fall. They just hang there, suspended in time. As we feared, time itself in Treeshroud Forest has truly stopped."

The guild members were finding this startling news hard to fathom.

"T-time has stopped?!"

"How could something this awful happen? It's unthinkable!"

Chatot flapped his wings loudly but calmly to the guild so he could continue his explanation. "I know the unthinkable has happened, but all of you may be wondering why time has stopped in Treeshroud Forest in the first place. It may be because its Time Gear was...stolen!"

The guild was shocked once more.

"Huh?!"

"The Time Gear was s-stolen?!"

"Hey, hey, hey, that's what made time stop!"

"I'd thought it wouldn't be possible, but it's really happened!"

"I don't get it, though! Why would ANYONE take a Time Gear?!"

Chatot flapped his wings to get everyone's attention again.

"Quiet, everyone! Officer Magnezone has already started an investigation. I know it's hard to believe that anyone would dare steal a Time Gear, but if one can be stolen, other Time Gears may also be in danger. The officer has asked that you notify to him or other officers immediately if we notice any suspicious characters. Keep all of this in mind, and let us know if you notice anything. That is all. For now, here's to another busy day of work~!"

Feeling reassured by the closing statement, the guild was dismissed and went to work. All except for Team Poképals, who were still startled by the announcement.

"A Time Gear was stolen?" said Piplup to Chimchar, his partner.

"Yeah. It's hard to believe that had happened!"

"What's a Time Gear, anyway?"

"It's one of those important items that helps keep time flowing properly. If one of those were stolen, time would completely go outta whack within the region of the Time Gear itself! Legends have been told that those Gears are to be hidden in secret places around the world, like Treeshroud Forest, a lake in an underground cavern, and even one hidden inside a volcano in an altar. At the center of those places, it's where all those Time Gears are, to serve a very important function. Each one protects time and keeps it flowing properly within its region. You just saw what happens when a region like the one within Treeshroud Forest loses its Time Gear. Time stops flowing and everything is suspended in place. That's why everyone makes sure to never disturb the Time Gears, as they know that some kind of disaster would strike. They stay away from them, andthey _never_ tamper with them. Even the most hardened criminal Pokémon would know not to mess with them."

Chatot listened to Team Poképals' conversation of the Time Gears and acknowledged their importance of the topic.

"Well, aren't you quite informed, Chimchar? You know your history quite well! But let's not dwell on it too long. I've got some exciting news for the both of you!"

Piplup and Chimchar turned to Chatot to listen to what he would say next.

"You've become quite good at your work. I was especially impressed with your capture of Drowzee, your first criminal! Both of you will now finally be assigned a mission worthy of a proper exploration team!"

The two pals had sparkling eyes from this announcement!

"Will one of you show me your Wonder Map, please?" continued Chatot.

Piplup took out the map from his team's bag to opened it to show Chatot.

"You know where Treasure Town is on here, right?" said Chatot. He pointed to another location with an image of a waterfall. "Now, over _here_ is where we would like you to investigate. See? There is a waterfall flowing here. It looks like an ordinary waterfall, but we've received intelligence that it may actually conceal a secret. That's where you come in. We want you to investigate the waterfall itself and determine what's really there. That is all. Do you understand the details of the mission?"

Team Poképals nodded, understanding the details of their first official exploration mission.

"All right," Chatot said happily, "I'll leave you both to thoroughly investigate the waterfall~!"

Chimchar was suddenly shaking.

"Huh? What's wrong?" questioned Chatot. "You're shivering."

The monkey Pokémon had tears in his eyes, concerning Chatot.

"A-are you all right?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. It's just...the anticipation is making me _so_ nervous. This will _really_ be the first time we get to do a real job as an exploration team. I'm feeling extremely worked up!"

Chimchar turned to Piplup.

"I feel like I'm gonna burst to tears from all this excitement, Piplup! Let's do our best!"

"Yeah, let's go for it!" the penguin Pokémon replied.

The two pals went up the ladder to the room of the two boards.

* * *

Before they went up another ladder out of the guild, Chimecho called to Team Poképals.

"Piplup and Chimchar! Over here!"

They noticed that she set up a table close to the Outlaw Board and went over to see what it was all about.

"Hey there, Chimecho!" said Piplup. "What's going on here?"

"I just started an assembly here. Today, in fact."

"Assembly?" questioned Chimchar.

"Yes!" answered Chimecho. "It's for assembling your team! Have both of you ever considered adding members?"

"Sure!" replied Piplup. "It'd be nice to have other teammates! If there were more than just the two of us, it sure would help when we explore dungeons!"

"You can start by recruiting new members! I'll help you start by me ringing the Friendship Bell! Here it goes!"

Chimecho rang the bell on the top of her head.

"Now you, Team Poképals, have the power to recruit new members!" she continued.

"Really?!" exclaimed Chimchar.

"Yes!" answered Chimecho. "From now on, while battling Pokémon in dungeons, you may earn respect from some of them, and they could ask if they will join your team. Once you recruit a Pokémon, you can bring him, her, or it along with you on dungeon explorations. To bring one along, visit my assembly, then choose which members should join you for your exploration. Always see me when you want to assemble a team that includes recruits~!"

"Awesome!" said Piplup. "Thanks, Chimecho! We'll remember!"

Team Poképals then left the guild and went outside.

* * *

Before they could go to the right pathway to Treasure Town to prepare to go to the mysterious waterfall, they saw a newly-built stairway on the straight path leading underground, and a sign that said "Spinda's Café! A shop of hopes and dreams is opening soon! Come in and win big!" They would be wondering what kind of shop it would be in the future, but for now, they went into town, bought items from the Kecleon Market, sorted out which items to leave at the Kangaskhan Storage and which ones to take on the exploration, and deposited some of their cash in the Duskull Bank, before they headed out.

* * *

Later, Team Poképals arrived at the waterfall that Chatot instructed them to go to for their exploration.

"So this is the waterfall that supposedly has a secret," Chimchar said. He got close to the streaming waterfall to touch it, but was sent back with brute force beside his partner! "Youch! That water's coming down hard! Piplup, since you're obviously a water-type, you might not be harmed. Get close to the waterfall."

Piplup went close to the waterfall as instructed. He could only stare at it in amazement at first.

 _It's true,_ he thought, _this waterfall is falling with incredible speed! I can barely stay standing near this deluge because of it!_

He touched the waterfall, but was also sent back a few feet!

"Ahhh!"

"See?" Chimchar said. "It's intense. If you were to fall under this waterfall, you'd probably be battered. I didn't think it wold be pouring down _this_ powerfully! Where should we even start looking?"

When his partner finished talking, Piplup had another strange sensation in his head!

 _Hmm…_ he painfully thought. _Something seems familiar...it's that dizziness I felt before._

Another vision came to his mind, this time it involved an unknown Pokémon jumping through the waterfall itself! Perhaps even more amazingly, it managed to land into the hidden cave unharmed! The vision ended from there, and Piplup was trying to figure out what he saw!

 _It happened again! I saw something, but what did I just see?!_

He turned to Chimchar and wanted to say something. "Hey buddy, I saw something in my vision!"

"What?!" questioned Chimchar. "You had another one?"

"Yeah, I saw a lone Pokémon leap into this waterfall here, and not only that, there was a hidden cave behind it!"

"WHAT?! Really?!"

"Yep! It's hard to imagine that that's the case, but I think there might be cave behind there!"

Chimchar however looked unsure about the waterfall, and if there was really a cave behind it.

"But it looks like that water is coming down really heavily," he said. "Imagine if there was actually a solid cliff wall behind that waterfall! That would _really_ hurt! If we tried to jump through, we'd be pounded badly!" He paused for a moment. "So, Piplup, what do you think? Is there _really_ something behind this waterfall? Are you surely convinced that there _is_ a cave there?"

"Yes!" Piplup insisted. "I know there is one behind there! I saw it in the vision, and although I found it hard to believe myself, there might be a cave in there after all!"

"Well...OK." Chimchar replied. "I'm putting my faith in you, Piplup! I completely believe in you!"

"Alright then, pal. Let's back away from the waterfall and jump into the cave with just enough force to get in!"

The two went a few feet away from the cliff and started to get ready to jump into the waterfall to try and get into the hidden cave.

"T-this is sorta scary!" insisted Chimchar.

"But you have to be brave now!" replied Piplup. "If you get scared and fail to leap through at full speed, you'll be smooshed no matter what you do next! If you're doing it, you gotta do it without hesitating! Just be brave...be the bravest like no other!"

"OK, thanks for the words of encouragement, Piplup. Let's go!"

The two started to count down to time their jump simultaneously.

"Three...two...one...NOW!"

They quickly jumped into the waterfall with as much force as they could muster! With a splash, they managed to get through and into the hidden cave. They groaned in pain for a little bit, but they shook it off and Chimchar was amazed that there _was_ a cave behind the waterfall after all!

"Yes!" he exclaimed. "It _is_ a hidden cave, just like you said in your vision! You were right after all! Let's go explore this new cave!"

"Right behind you!" said Piplup. They went into the cave to explore what they would officially call the Waterfall Cave.

* * *

The Waterfall Cave itself was filled, as expected, with water-type Pokémon. Piplup would again have to protect his buddy Chimchar from the disadvantage he had within the dungeon itself. However, thanks to Chimecho ranging the Friendship Bell to introduce what was called the Chimecho Assembly, Team Poképals would be able to recruit new Pokémon into the team whenever they defeated one, and asked to join the team. They would never turn down a new type of Pokémon that wanted to join, but would discard one joining if the same Pokémon was already within the assembly.

* * *

After eight floors of battling and exploring, Team Poképals arrived within the top ninth floor of Waterfall Cave. They dismissed their other members so that Piplup and Chimchar alone would discover what was at the end themselves.

"Wow!" exclaimed Chimchar. "Look at all of those sparkling gems!"

Piplup looked at one particular gem at the farther back of the room and couldn't believe his eyes!

"Whoa, look over there, Chimchar!" he said. "There's a humongous gem right there!"

They went toward the giant gem that caught their attention the most. It was a purple-like color, and it could be worth lots of Poké!

"Wow!" said Chimchar in amazement. "I've never seen a gem this huge! That is one incredible treasure! Everyone'll be amazed if we take this back!"

He went toward the gem itself and tried to yank it off the wall as hard as he could, but to no avail.

"Nope, it's not budging" he then said in between pants, trying to get his breath back. "It's really stuck tight."

"Don't worry, Chimchar," insisted Piplup. "I'll give it a try."

He too gave it all he had to pull out the gem.

"Whoa! It's really stuck in there good! It won't budge!"

He stepped back from the gem and took a much needed rest while panting. Moments later, he spoke again.

"It's no good. I couldn't move it either."

"We can't just give up now!" Chimchar insisted. "If we try hard enough, we'll probably get some kind of result! I'll give it another go!"

He went toward the gem to try and pull it out again, but meanwhile, that familiar weird spell took over Piplup's head again!

 _Huh?_ He thought. _Oh no...it's happening again...another vision._

He saw yet another vision, this time showing within the floor they were currently in right now. The familiar unknown Pokémon was in the vision again, this time pushing the giant gem itself. All of a sudden, a wave of flooding water washed the Pokémon away!

The vision ended, and Piplup was alarmed on what he saw within it!

 _Wait! That was-_

He was interrupted by Chimchar, who still couldn't pull the gem out.

"It's no good, It still won't come out…" He got an idea. "Wait! Maybe if I..."

He suddenly pushed the gigantic gem, which understandingly alarmed Piplup!

"No! Don't push the gem!" he yelled.

But it was too late. A sound of rushing water was heard within the floor.

"Huh?" Chimchar said. "What's going on?"

The sound got louder as a wave of flooding water came towards them at a fast speed!

"Look out! A flood of water's coming toward us!"

They braced themselves as best as they could, as they were washed away by the flood and out of an opening of the cave to the outside.

* * *

Team Poképals eventually landed into a hot spring that was occupied by some Pokémon. They were startled by their sudden appearance within the pool itself.

"Wow!"

"What in the world?!"

"Are you guys OK?"

Chimchar noticed that he and Piplup were not in Waterfall Cave anymore.

"Whoa, where are we?"

A bear cub-like Pokémon named Teddiursa went toward them and spoke up.

"Hey, are both of you OK? You came out of nowhere and startled everyone!"

"Yes," said Piplup, "but where are we?"

"This is the Hot Spring." Teddiursa answered.

"Hot Spring?" both Piplup and Chimchar replied.

An elderly turtle Pokémon named Torkoal stepped near the spring to answer their question. "Indeed! This is the Hot Spring. It works wonders on tired muscles and creaky joints. Many Pokémon visit here. Now tell me, youngsters, do you have a map?"

"Map? Oh, if you mean our Wonder Map, yes, we have one," answered Chimchar.

"Unfold it for me, then," Torkoal replied.

They showed him the map and he pointed to a picture of a spring. That was where the Hot Spring was.

"There. The Hot Spring is right here. This is its location."

"Oh," Chimchar said, "I see." He pointed to where Waterfall Cave was. "The waterfall is here, so..." He realized how far away the cave and spring were. "Hey, Piplup, check this out! The water carried us all the way over here!"

Torkoal was amazed at how Team Poképals got here. "My goodness! It was the water that carried you all this way? What a long journey that must've been! Let the Hot Spring here wash away your fatigue before you make your way home."

"Good idea," replied Piplup. "We'll do that." He and Chimchar couldn't agree more after an exhausting, but exciting exploration.

* * *

Hours later, Team Poképals was back at Wigglytuff's Guild, talking about the wild day they had during the exploration at Waterfall Cave, and landing at Hot Spring, to Chatot

"Hmm," he said. "Let me see if I've got this all straight. Behind the waterfall, there's a cave, and deep within it, there's a giant gem. When you pushed on it, it triggered a trap of some kind, and were, more surprisingly, flushed off to the distant Hot Spring? Is that the gist of your report?"

"Yes," Chimchar replied sadly. "It's very disappointing though that we couldn't bring the gem back."

"No no no! Emphatically, no!" reassured Chatot, as he flapped his wings. "This is a major discovery!"

"Really?!" Piplup and Chimchar replied.

"Undoubtedly~!" Chatot said. "After all, the presence of the cave behind the waterfall was not known until now~!"

"Ohhhh, I see!" Chimchar proudly replied. "We did make a discovery!"

Piplup, meanwhile, turned away from the conversation and wondered about the visions he had.

 _When I had those dizzy spells,_ he thought, _the shadow of that Pokémon I saw, the shape of it looked awfully familiar. There was no mistaking...that it belonged to the guildmaster, Wigglytuff! Could he have gone to the hidden cave behind the waterfall before us?! I've gotta find out!_

"Your waterfall discovery is just amazing!" Chatot exclaimed. "The guildmaster must be told about it~!"

Piplup turned back to Chimchar and Chatot to say something. "Uh, guys, I gotta tell you something! Wigglytuff may have been at that waterfall before! I saw it in a vision or something like that!"

"What?!" Both Chimchar and Chatot said. They were surprised by this revelation.

"Emphatically no!" Chatot insisted. "That's inconceivable! If that were so, the guildmaster wouldn't have ordered you to investigate the waterfall, right?"

"No, that's not true!" Piplup answered. "I really saw him in the vision!"

"Hmm," the parrot replied, wondering whether or not to trust Piplup's assumption. "However, since you insist, I will confirm it with the guildmaster himself." He then turned away from Team Poképals, quietly saying, "But why would they want to spoil their own discovery? It may be strange if that's the case! I should get used to it by now, though...yet these apprentices are another strange crew, aren't they...?"

"What was that, Chatot?" Chimchar said.

"What?!" he replied, flapping his wings in panic. "Oh, nothing at all!" He calmed down and continued. "A-anyway, I will go confirm what both of you told me to the guildmaster. Please wait here for a moment."

He went into the Wigglytuff's chamber to discuss that the guildmaster himself did go to Waterfall Cave before Team Poképals. Moments later, Chatot came out of there and went back to the two leaders of the team.

"So," Chimchar wondered, "how did it go?"

"When I asked the guildmaster," replied Chatot, "he mulled it over for a bit. Then he said, 'Oh, memories~! Sweet memories~! YOOM...TAH!' He danced around a bit after that, then he said, 'Yes, yes! When I think hard about it, maybe I did go there once!' That's just what the guildmaster had said."

Both Piplup and Chimchar sweat-dropped about the revelation.

"To sum it up," Chatot continued, "it's just as Piplup suspected, guildmaster Wigglytuff has indeed already been to Waterfall Cave before both of you were!"

Chimchar was disappointed. "Oh...OK," he said. "That's kinda disappointing… We really thought we'd discovered a new place. I wish he'd told us right from the start..."

"The guildmaster can be rather, uh erratic at times," insisted Chatot. "Even I can't quite fathom what goes on in his head. In any case, that's too bad for you. But don't dwell on it too long! I expect your best effort again tomorrow!" He then flew away from Team Poképals.

Piplup looked over to a still-disappointed Chimchar.

"Hey, buddy," he said. "Don't be too sad. I gotta admit, we had tons of fun today, even though we didn't bring that big gem back!"

"Yeah," Chimchar replied, feeling reassured and happy. "It's the thought that counts, and besides, we discovered two new places instead of one! You're not sad, and I shouldn't be either!"

Team Poképals decided to head around the guild to discuss the first official exploration that had today to the other guild members and visiting Pokémon until supper would be ready later on tonight.

* * *

Later that evening in Piplup and Chimchar's room, they discussed about the exploration amongst themselves.

"Like you said, Piplup," Chimchar began, "it was an incredibly fun day for both of us! I know I'm still disappointed that we didn't bring home any real treasure, but it was our first exploration! For almost the whole time today, I thought I was going to explode from excitement and anticipation! That made me realize I made the right decision in forming an exploration team."

Chimchar removed the necklace around his neck which held the Relic Fragment. He showed it to Piplup, and turned to the conversation to the topic of the Fragment itself.

"One day," Chimchar continued, "I'm sure I'll solve the secret of my Relic Fragment. That's the number one dream I have, and if it ever comes true, I'll surely faint from sheer happiness!"

They had a little laugh about it, and seconds later, Chimchar put it back on around his neck. He continued their chat.

"But seriously, I have to thank you for helping me form Team Poképals, Piplup. Because of you, I can explore. It's just like you told me before we jumped into the waterfall to get into the cave...be brave. Be the bravest like no other!"

"That's exactly right," said Piplup.

"I'm the biggest chicken around," replied Chimchar, "but thanks to you, I managed to work up the courage! You were with me, Piplup, and I can't thank you enough for it!"

"No problem, pal. Anything for you."

Chimchar then turned to the visions that Piplup kept having.

"You know," the monkey Pokémon said, "I was thinking about those dizzy spells that you keep having, Piplup. They almost always seem to happen when you touch something!"

"Come to think of it," Piplup replied, "you're right! They occurred when I picked up Azurill's apple, bumped into Drowzee, and when I touched both the waterfall, and the gem at the top of Waterfall Cave! I have to wonder if I see something connected to those events..."

"One more thing," Chimchar said, "when we rescued Azurill, you had a vision of the future, but when you saw Wigglytuff going into Waterfall Cave, it was a different story! You saw an event that occurred in the past!"

"Th-that's right!"

"In other words, Piplup, if you touch something, you see the past or future. You must have that kind of special ability! This could be something totally incredible! You could use it in lots of ways, and not just for exploring either! It could be useful for many other things, too! It's simply awesome!"

"W-well, yes! I guess that may be true, but that doesn't mean I always get a vision every time I touch something."

Piplup was right on his previous sentence. The ability to see a past or future event didn't always happen. _That,_ he thought to himself, _is fine by me. It gets a little stale when it's not important at all._ The whole topic of seeing those visions was very interesting indeed. He continued the conversation with Chimchar.

"It would be useful if I could have those visions for important occasions, but..."

Before he finish though, Chatot interrupted them. He recently walked into their room.

"Hey, you two! The guildmaster wants to see you right away."

They followed the parrot Pokémon to the Wigglytuff's chamber.

* * *

"Guildmaster," Chatot said to Wigglytuff, who had his back turned. "I've brought you Team Poképals."

The guildmaster still didn't turn around.

"Uh, guildmaster?"

Wigglytuff finally turned around, surprising both Piplup and Chimchar.

"Hiya!" Wigglytuff said with a cheerful tone. "Your team went through a lot today! Yes, a lot-lot! But worry not, I'm keeping watch on your activities! I should tell you why I called you here, we're planning to mount a full expedition soon~!"

"An expedition?" both Piplup and Chimchar said.

"Yes!" answered Chatot. "The guild will go explore someplace far away! It's much harder than exploring our nearby area, so that's why we need to properly prepare for the big trip. We carefully choose which guild members go on the expedition."

"Really?!" both the Poképals said.

"Usually," Wigglytuff said, "we would never, ever consider rookies to be expedition members, but since both of you are working so hard, and moved to the Silver Rank already, we'll make a special exception this time! We'll include you in the list of candidates for the expedition!"

"R-really?!" Piplup and Chimchar exclaimed.

"Now, now!" Chatot said. They turned to him. "You still haven't been chosen as expedition members yet. There's still time before we set out on the expedition, though. However, if you fail to keep doing good work before then, you cannot expect to be selected for the expedition."

"I'm sure you two can do it, though!" insisted Wigglytuff. Piplup and Chimchar turned back to him. "Keep working hard, and you'll get there!"

"Yes, sir!" replied Chimchar. He turned to Piplup. "Isn't an expedition going to be fantastic, pal?!"

"Yeah!" Piplup excitedly said. "My heart's pounding all of a sudden! Let's keep doing what we're doin' so we can get picked for the expedition!"

Team Poképals raised one of their fists (or flippers, in Piplup's case) up in the air and shouted a cheer!

" **Team Poképals, ready to work harder!"**

They know it might be difficult to get picked for the guild's expedition, but they knew that they are more than capable of making the cut.


	6. Team Skull

_**Chapter 6**_

 _ **Team Skull**_

Fresh from their meeting with Wigglytuff and Chatot last night about the upcoming expedition, Team Poképals leaders Piplup and Chimchar were at the morning briefing along with the rest of the guild. It was almost finished, as Chatot had an annoucement to make.

"As I was explaining," he began, "there is a lake far to the east. There are many aspects of that lake that remain mysterious, but we hope to unravel those mysteries very soon as our guild will mount an expedition for first time in ages~!"

The guild was happy at the annoucement.

"An expedition, you say? Yes, please!"

"It's been a while since we went on an expedition!"

"But...that means you're gonna be picking members for the expedition from ALL of us again, right?"

Chatot spoke up. "Precisely~! We will depart in around a week or two from now. Over these next few days, we will choose apprentices who are the most worthy, and they will form the expedition party. With that said, everyone, work hard so that you may be chosen for the expedition!"

The guild cheered again.

"Oh my gosh! This is so exciting!"

"Yup, yup! I've yet to go on an expedition. I would surely love to go this time!"

"Let's work at it and get picked as members!"

Chatot spoke up once more to wrap up the briefing. "All right, everybody~! Let's get back to work~!"

"HOORAY!" the guild cheered.

Everyone went up one floor to pick out their jobs.

* * *

Team Poképals turned to their right to pick ones from the regular job bulletin first, when they saw two awfully familiar pokémon…

"Hey, Piplup!" said Chimchar. "Those guys over there look strangely familiar..."

"Let's go check 'em out!" replied Piplup.

They went over to see who they were. It was Zubat and Koffing, the two thieves that nearly took away Chimchar's Relic Fragment!

"Huh?!" he exclaimed. "It's Zubat and Koffing, the two crooks who stole my Relic Fragment! What're you guys doing here?!"

They turned to Team Poképals.

"Whoa-ho-ho! I'll have you know that we're an exploration team too," replied Koffing. "We're called Team Skull!"

"What's so funny about an exploration team like us checking out the job bulletin board?" questioned Zubat.

"What?!" both Piplup and Chimchar exclaimed in shock. "You're an exploration team?!"

"That's right," answered Koffing. "Though the way we operate isn't always...by the book. I'm surprised at why _you_ would be here, though!"

"We wanted to become exploration team members," Chimchar replied. "That's why we're training at this guild."

"Whaaaat?!" both Zubat and Koffing said.

"Both of you want to become real-deal exploration team members?!" Zubat said. He turned to Koffing. "OK, we know what to do..."

All of a sudden, they surrounded Chimchar and had a grip on him!

"You!" Koffing said. "Come with us for a second!"

They took him a few feet away from Piplup and the penguin pokémon wasn't having any of it.

"Hey! Let him go, you jerks!" he yelled.

Zubat, Koffing, and their captor, Chimchar, stopped near the window by the job bulletin board, not paying any attention to Piplup. They spoke to the scared monkey pokémon.

"Now don't take what I'm about to say the wrong way," warned Koffing. "Both you and Piplup should just forget about being on an exploration team!"

"What?! Why?!" Chimchar exclaimed.

"For starters, you're very timid," Zubat insisted. "You get scared easily, and a scaredy cat like you just won't cut it on an exploration team."

Chimchar ran back to his pal, Piplup, where he felt safe.

"It's t-true that I _am_ timid," the monkey pokémon said calmly, but got angry of being treated as a wimp. "But that's why I'm in training, so that I can overcome my own shortcomings! Even speaking as of now, both Piplup and I are working hard to be picked for the guild's exploration!"

"An expedition, you say?" questioned Koffing curiously.

"Heh-heh," Zubat continued. "Well, effort only gets you so far. If you don't show it, you won't get picked for the expedition party, right? All of that comes down to talent...pure talent!"

Chimchar seemed to be furious, thinking that he was insulted for both he and his friend's lack of talent.

"B-big talk!" he yelled. "You sure talk a lot about talent, but what kind of skills do both of _you_ have?! You were so weak, we even beat you while we barely broke a sweat!"

"I know," Koffing said, "but we didn't have the chief with us."

"Chief?" both Piplup and Chimchar replied.

"Heh-heh, that's right," said Zubat.

"Team Skull, our exploration team, has _three_ members," Koffing continued.

"Our chief is incredibly talented."

"To put it bluntly, he's brutally tough."

"If the chief were around, we'd all snap you both like a twig."

A funny smell was coming from the guild's ladder to the exit.

"Speaking of him," Koffing said, "I can smell him coming now!"

From that ladder, a big skunk-like pokémon named Skuntank came down from the ladder, going right close to Piplup, who was in the way.

"Hey you, pipsqueak!" he said. "Outta the way!"

All of a sudden, he sprayed a burst of purple gas to send Piplup flying a few feet back! Chimchar was understandingly shocked by this unspeakable action.

"Piplup!" he cried out. He smelt the purple gas that spewed out. "Ugh! What's this awful stench?"

The gas made its way to the other pokémon within the room. They, too, couldn't stand the smell.

"Eek! It reeks like rotten cheese!"

"That's one foul smell, yup, yup!"

"Hey, hey, my eyes are burnin'!"

Skuntank then turned to meet Zubat and Koffing, but Chimchar stood in his way.

"Move it, or you'll end up like that pipsqueak over there!"

Without hesitation, Chimchar moved aside and went to help Piplup get up, not wanting to get blasted by the obnoxious gas as well. Zubat and Koffing seemed to praise their "chief" toying with Team Poképals, as Skuntank went towards them.

"You showed them, chief!" they said. "You're the best!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he replied. "Did both of you sniff out any jobs that'll bring in the cash?"

"The job bulletin board only posted cheap, easy tasks," Koffing said.

"But there's something else, chief," Zubat continued. "It's got the potential to go big!"

They whispered as Piplup got back up thanks to Chimchar helping him. Seconds later, Skuntank was astounded by what Koffing and Zubat told them.

"What? An expedition from this guild?" he said. "That _does_ sound tasty, doesn't it?"

His two fellow members nod.

"Then let's get outta here so we can do some plotting!"

"Yeah!" Zubat and Koffing cheer, as their leader goes out of the guild. They follow him, but they notice that the pokémon within the floor are watching them still.

"What're you all staring at?" Koffing says. "This isn't a circus act!"

"See ya around, wimps," Zubat says to Team Poképals, as the blue bat and Koffing make their way out of the guild as well. Piplup and Chimchar turned to each other and decided to talk about this event from Team Skull that unfolded.

"Man, I got clobbered by those jerks," Piplup said.

"At least you don't look to be injured though, so that's good news," Chimchar assured. "That was still rough, though."

He felt guilty that he couldn't do anything more to help his pal. "I couldn't work up the courage to challenge that Skuntank to his face! I'm so ashamed of myself. Team Skull is right. I _am_ a wimp...a big chicken."

"Don't listen to 'em, pal," Piplup insisted as he put a flipper around Chimchar. "You're not a wimp, you're brave and strong. I know it in my heart, and everyone else here for that matter knows that too!"

Tears of joy and reassurance were about to fall from Chimchar's now smiling face from his buddy's comforting words.

"Thanks for trying to cheer me up, Piplup," he said. "Of course, being a wimp is nothing new for me, but I know I can still do my best, even if I'm not very brave. I won't give up being brave over something like this!" Chimchar wiped his tears from his eyes and continued, "I'm gonna be cheerful and keep trying! Thanks, Piplup!"

"Anytime, buddy," the penguin pokémon proudly replied. "Now let's go to the boards and complete the jobs that we'll take!"

They went to the boards and took their time to pick out their jobs. Later, they went out of the guild to go outside.

* * *

Out from the guild's entrance, Team Poképals saw two blue pokémon standing near the mysterious stairway that lead to Spinda's Café. They were a male wynaut, and a female wobbuffet. They wanted Piplup and Chimchar to come into the shop, so they followed them, and were met by a cheerful spinda who ran the café. He showed them a shop to the left, which was a juice bar. This shop was unique in that pokémon could only bring their own food and items to mix with drinkable liquids to either increase, or decrease one's stats, or do nothing at all. The shop on the right was the recycle shop. This is where pokémon could recycle their unwanted items for different kinds of prize tickets, if certain conditions were met. These prize tickets could vary for more useful items in the future. When Piplup and Chimchar got an idea on how these shops work, they decided to head out of the café and were greeted by Chimecho who decided that any two waiting members of Team Poképals would now wait in the newly-open café itself. They agreed to her request, and she was happy. After she left, the two leaders of the team went to Treasure Town to prepare, before they headed out to take their jobs.

* * *

Team Poképals would take their jobs for a few days, with a day of sentry duty mixed in, until one morning…

"Everyone," Chatot said, "I have an announcement before we get down to work. I would like to introduce our new members~."

The guild members wondered who those new members might be.

"Members? As in more new apprentices?"

"Golly, I wonder what kinds of pokémon they are?"

"Hey!" Chatot got everyone's attention. "As I was saying..." He pointed a wing towards the ladder, as a ball of purple gas was spewed towards the members! They wondered where _that_ had come from!

"Ugh! Where did that stink bomb come from?!"

"Eek! It smells like rotten cheese! Ewwww!"

"Yup yup, that's some kind of foul stench!"

The gas and its stench cleared and it was Team Skull that joined Wigglytuff's Guild! They came down the ladder, as Team Poképals couldn't believe that they joined.

"It's Team Skull!" Piplup and Chimchar both exclaimed.

"These three are our new partners," Chatot said.

They introduced themselves to the guild, then the parrot pokémon continued.

"These three aren't joining us as apprentices. Instead, they will be joining our expedition to lend us their assistance~."

"What?!" exclaimed Team Poképals.

"Why are both of you shocked?" Chatot questioned.

"Chatot, sir, it's nothing," Skuntank insisted. "They always overreact to every little thing."

Chatot spared a look to Team Skull, before he turned back to the guild members and said, "Very well, then. The guildmaster has made his decision, and decided that having this trio take part will make us stronger on the expedition. However, it would be impossible to coordinate teamwork if we were to begin working together right away, thus we've decided that they should live with us for several days. Though Team Skull's stay may go by quick, I ask everyone to treat them with hospitality~!"

A few members complained about the addition of Team Skull.

"Doesn't Chatot think something stinks about this, literally?"

"How can the guildmaster stand this?"

"I sure hope this expedition ends soon!"

Chatot paid no attention to the complaints and concluded, "All right, everyone~! Let's get to work~!"

The guild said a weak "Hooray,", concerning the parrot pokémon.

"What's this? Where's your usual spirit?"

"You've gotta be KIDDING ME!" Loudred complained loudly. "This STINKS! LITERALLY! How do you expect us to be cheerful when-"

He was interrupted by Wigglytuff, who about to burst into tears and unleash his Hyper Voice move.

"Oh no!" Chatot exclaimed. "The guildmaster's rage is building! If he loses it, it'll be horrific! Everyone, come on! Be cheerful, even if it hurts! As I said before, let's get to work~!"

"HOORAY!" everyone cheered loudly.

Everyone but Team Poképals left for work. They stared at Team Skull.

"Chew-haw-haw! Nice to have met you," Skuntank said.

He left, along with his two other members, who laughed. Chimchar quickly turned to Piplup.

"Something's definitely suspicious about 'em for sure!"

"I don't know what they're scheming, but we have to be careful!"

After their brief conversation, they finally left the guild to do more jobs, and by the end of the day, not only did they get more pokémon in their team's assembly, they were upgraded to the Gold Rank.

* * *

Later that night, Team Skull was planning something…

"We just had dinner," Zubat began, "but I could go for some more food."

"My belly will never get filled on grub like that," Koffing said.

"Since all the guild members have gone to bed," Skuntank said, "we'll find the guild's food stock. Once we find it, we'll have a proper feast."

"I like your thinking, chief!" Koffing exclaimed.

"OK, let's get to it!" Zubat said.

* * *

The next day, before Team Poképals could leave for their own jobs, Chatot instructed them to do something different today…

"Your task today is to obtain stock to replenish the larder," he said.

"Larder?" questioned Chimchar. "You mean, go get some food?"

"Yes. We inspected the larder this morning, but for some mysterious reason, the guild's food stock has dropped sharply all of a sudden." He said the following few words with some worry. "Furthermore, as I feared, our entire stock of perfect apples has disappeared. That was the only item to get completely cleaned out."

"Perfect apples? What are those?"

"They're bigger and tastier than regular apples, but more importantly, they are the guildmaster's favorite food~!" Chatot said the next words with worry in his eyes. "If there were no perfect apples, the guildmaster would...c-completely lose his temper! You wouldn't want to see how _that_ would transpire! This is why I'm begging for the both of you to get some perfect apples!"

"Yikes!" Chimchar said. "OK then, we'll go get some. You can count on us!"

"Good~!" Chatot replied cheerfully, feeling reassured. "Perfect apples can be found deep in Apple Woods. Now, just remember, this duty today may seem like a simple errand, but it's a crucial job. This is all about keeping the guildmaster happy, so _please_ don't fail~!"

"OK!" Chimchar said. He turned to Piplup. "Let's go to Apple Woods!"

"I'm right behind you!" he replied.

Team Poképals left the floor, while they did not notice that Team Skull was watching them that whole time.

"Looks like they're going out foraging for food," Koffing said.

"That's because we feasted last night," Skuntank replied. "It's a thankless task thanks to us!"

"Heh-heh! We're messin' with 'em!" Zubat said.

* * *

Later, Team Poképals arrived at Apple Woods. They decided to quickly review what they needed to do here today.

"According to Chatot," Chimchar said, "we need to go to the deepest part of the woods so we can get those perfect apples."

"You're right, Chimchar!" Piplup said. "Let's do our best!"

They left into the dungeon of the woods, not knowing that Team Skull also recently entered behind them.

"Looks like they're off and running," said Koffing.

"Let's go after them," Zubat replied.

They went into the dungeon as well.

* * *

Meanwhile, within Apple Woods, there were twelve floors of grass-type pokémon that Team Poképals had to deal with. With the help of Chimchar and two other members today, Piplup would feel safe when he and his team got involved in a battle. He would take more damage from those pokémon here, but much less with the help of three other team members, including from his best friend.

* * *

Later, they eventually arrived to the deepest part of Apple Woods.

"OK, guys," Piplup said. "We'll take care of this apple business ourselves. Thanks for getting us, and _me_ , through! You can go home now!"

"No prob!"

"See ya later!"

Only the two leaders themselves remained. They looked at different trees filled with apples, until they saw one particularly big tree.

"Hey! This must be the tree with perfect apples here!" Chimchar exclaimed.

"Let's get close to it!" Piplup replied.

They went close to the tree.

"OK, then," Chimchar said. "How should we get those perfect apples?"

"Chaw-haw-haw! Easily done!" said a voice within the tree.

Team Poképals turned up toward the tree to see...Team Skull! They jumped from the branches to the ground.

"It's Team Skull!" Piplup exclaimed.

"Hey, look," said Zubat, "it's that wimp and his pipsqueak! What took you guys so long?"

"We've had a picnic of perfect apples while we waited for you," said Koffing.

"You did WHAT?!" Piplup and Chimchar said.

"We stuffed ourselves!" the poison gas pokémon said as he burped.

"They're saying they ate the perfect apples, Piplup!" Chimchar said as he turned to his pal.

"But they're lying, though!" the penguin pokémon insisted. "There's still some left on that tree! Let's knock these jerks out and take home some perfect apples!"

"Chaw-haw-haw! Knock us out?" Skuntank said. "That's very rude of you! Why, I was even going to offer our help for your mission."

Team Poképals was shocked by their somewhat generous offer, but still didn't trust them.

"Oh, you were wondering how you could get the perfect apples?" Skuntank continued. "It's simple! Watch."

He turned to the tree, and rammed it two times. Perfect apples came out from the leaves, and onto the ground.

"See, Chimchar?" Piplup said. "There _were_ some perfect apples remaining!"

Skuntank turned back to Team Poképals and said, "OK, here they are. Scoop 'em up and scuttle back to the guild."

Team Skull laughed, making Piplup and Chimchar suspicious of their next action.

"Hm? What's the matter?" the skunk pokémon Skuntank said. "Aren't you gonna pick 'em up? I'm being kind to you!"

"I don't think so!" Piplup protested. "I think you're trying to pull another dirty trick on us!"

"Yeah!" Chimchar said, "You won't fool us again!"

Team Skull was surprised, knowing their rivals are all over them.

"Color me surprised!" Zubat exclaimed. "They didn't fall for it at all!"

"How boring is that?!" Koffing said.

"We're right!" Piplup and Chimchar said. "You _are_ up to no good!"

"It may be disappointing that both of you didn't fall for our act," Skuntank said, "but what can you do about it?"

"The only thing that we'll plan to do to you, Team Skull!" Piplup insisted, as he and Chimchar got into their battle stances. "We're gonna knock all of you out, then we'll take those perfect apples back to the guild ourselves!"

"Well now," Skuntank said, "aren't we feeling peppy today!"

"Even though I backed down before that time, and that I'm still scared now," Chimchar replied, "I won't lose to you crooks again! I'll never back down now!"

"So be it," the leader of Team Skull said. "In recognition of your courage, we'll be honored to take you on fair and square!"

Team Skull got themselves together to prepare for something sinister!

"W-watch out, Piplup!" Chimchar warned. "They're gonna try something!"

"Koffing and I will use our noxious gas combo!"

Within short order, they unleashed a ball of purple gas to Team Poképals! They cried out in pain, then they were knocked out instantly!

Moments later, they got up slowly, as they groaned in pain. They turned to each other.

"Aw, man, that was brutal!" Piplup said.

"It looks like we're OK, though." Chimchar replied.

One other pokémon groaned in pain. Team Poképals turned to see who it was. It was Zubat, who was somehow left behind by Team Skull!

"Ahhhh!" he screamed. "They left without me!" He made a beeline out of Apple Woods to get back with his team.

"We both got clobbered good," Chimchar said, turning back to Piplup. "What an overpowering stench! It's still lingering, too! By the way, what happened to the perfect apples?"

They turned to where the perfect apples fell at, but they were all gone!

"Oh no! They're all gone!" Piplup exclaimed. "Those jerks probably ate 'em all!"

Chimchar sadly turned back to Piplup as he sighed in defeat. "There's nothing more we can do here. We'll just have to go home..."

Piplup nodded, as he had no choice but to agree.

* * *

Later, back at Wigglytuff's Guild, Chatot was shocked by Team Poképals failure of getting the perfect apples from Apple Woods.

"What?! You failed?!" he exclaimed, flapping his wings. "Are you serious?! Oh no! What am I gonna do?!" He panicked as he flew around the room. "Seriously, what am I to do?!"

"There was nothing we could do!" Piplup insisted. "You see, Skuntank and his-"

Chatot angrily turned to Team Poképals. "Quiet! I don't wanna hear any excuses, even from a Gold Rank team like you! Both of you leave me no choice, but to punish you! Both of you will go without dinner tonight!"

" **What?! Why?!** " Piplup and Chimchar exclaimed.

"Both of you failed to complete an important job," Chatot said. "Just be thankful that your punishment could've been much more severe! _I'm_ the one saddled with the terrible task of reporting your failure to the guildmaster! He'll surely be furious! I will report to him after dinner, and when that happens, both of you will come with me. If I have to face the guildmaster's wrath all by myself, I'll be scared to death! Therefore, you two will come with me! _That_ is an order!"

* * *

Later that evening, everyone but Team Poképals was eating their supper. Piplup and Chimchar could only look on, understandingly dejected for not getting to eat tonight.

"Man, this stinks..." Piplup said.

"Yeah, I'm with you..." Chimchar replied.

* * *

Minutes later, Team Poképals was in Wigglytuff's chamber. He suddenly turned around, surprising both of them as usual.

"Hiya!" he said with a cheerful tone, as always. "You brought me some perfect apples, didn't ya? Thanks!"

"Uh..." Chatot said nervously. "There's, uh, a slight..." It was hard to find the words of how Team Poképals failed to bring the perfect apples. "It's awfully hard to say this, but..."

"Huh? What's wrong?" Wigglytuff said, turning to Chatot.

"You see, uh, truth be told...these apprentices...failed in their mission to bring back _any_ perfect apples, and..."

"It's OK. I understand~. It's really fine! Nobody wins all the time~. Just don't feel blue~! Where are the other perfect apples?"

Chatot felt alarmed, not wanting to talk about the perfect apple situation anymore.

"As I'd explained...um..." he said, trying to find the right words again. "They failed to get them, so, uh...the perfect apples...the number of 'em harvested...would be, uh...zero."

"...Oh." Wigglytuff said.

"Therefore...not even one perfect apple was obtained...which means...guildmaster...you will have to make do without perfect apples for a little while." Chatot had tears falling from his eyes from nervousness. "Yep, that's what it means!"

He had a little laugh for a few seconds, but put on a straight face eventually, and looked at Wigglytuff. The parrot pokémon was alarmed by the look of the guildmaster's face!

"Um, guildmaster? Guildmaster?"

Wigglytuff looked like he was about to cry. Team Poképals looked alarmed by this sight!

"No! Don't cry, guildmaster!" Chatot exclaimed.

The balloon pokémon's crying looked to intensify, as the room suddenly began to shake!

"Whoa!" Chimchar said. "The whole room is shaking!"

"Cover your ears!" Chatot warned.

"W-why?!"

"Don't argue! Just do it!"

Team Poképals and Chatot covered their ears as Wigglytuff's crying, which got louder and louder, made it look like the room was going to explode! Suddenly, a voice came from the back of the chamber.

"Sorry to disturb ya! We've come to deliver a perfect apple!"

"Huh?" Wigglytuff said with tears in his eyes, having appeared to calm down all of a sudden.

Everyone else turned back to see Team Skull enter into the room. Skuntank went to Wigglytuff and gave him a perfect apple.

"Here ya go," the skunk pokémon said. "A genuine perfect apple. Please accept it as our token of friendship."

"Wow!" Wigglytuff exclaimed, with his happy self returning. "You went and got it just for me?! Yay! Thank you, friendly friends~!"

"Th-thank you so very, very kindly!" Chatot happily said. "Thanks to you, we've all been spared a catastrophe!" He turned to Team Poképals angrily. "Hey! You two! Quit dozing and show your respect and appreciation!"

Piplup and Chimchar felt insulted.

"No, no, it's quite all right," Skuntank insisted. "After all, your guild's been very generous and hospitable to us. It's only fair that we try to repay that favor in our own way."

"Ah!" Chatot said in a happy tone, as he turned back to the leader of Team Skull. "I see that you're the most admirable of pokémon~! To be able to embark on an expedition with someone so noble as you...will be truly inspiring!"

"Chaw-haw-haw! No, no! _You_ will be the ones inspiring us. Truly, we look forward to the expedition. It's getting late, so we'll be off to bed now. 'Til tomorrow, then!"

Team Skull turned around and left Wigglytuff's chamber.

"Thanks!" he said. "Good night, friendly friends~!"

* * *

Team Skull was in the hallway of the guild, talking about today's events.

"But, chief," Zubat began, "why'd you bother helping out that chicken? We should've just watched what'd happened to 'em after! That would've been hilarious!"

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly," Koffing said.

"Both of you are not thinking strategically," Skuntank insisted. "We came here for the expedition, right? For now, the trick is for us to win the trust of Wigglytuff."

"Ohhhh…we get it!" Zubat and Koffing said.

"This being a famous guild and all," Skuntank continued, "I was playing it cautious at first, but it's been ridiculously easy. Wigglytuff's been nothing more than a big crybaby! He's no big deal. As to why everyone's so terrified to him, I dunno, I'm clueless. Anyway, if we find a treasure while on the expedition…"

"...we knock out the guild's crew," Koffing insisted.

"Then we snatch the treasure and skedaddle on out!" Zubat said.

"Whoa-ho-ho! This plan is a sure thing!"

They had a laugh on the plan.

* * *

Meanwhile in Team Poképals' room, Chimchar began with a sigh as he explained his displeasure about Team Skull to Piplup.

"Skuntank's team showed us up over and over again. We're lucky that Wigglytuff didn't blow up at us. I'm still sad that we didn't get to eat dinner...I feel awfully hungry."

"Me too, Chimchar, but staying awake like this won't make it any better. Let's try to get some sleep for now."

"OK, then, Piplup, good night."

"Let's keep at it tomorrow."

The two laid on their perspective beds and went to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, after the guild's morning cheers, Chatot had an announcement.

"Tomorrow or the day after, or even in several days' time, we plan to announce the members of the expedition party~!"

The guild was excited by the news!

"Wow!"

"By golly, the members are finally gonna be picked!"

"Oh my gosh! It'll be so fun!"

"Everyone," Chatot continued, "this is your last chance to make an impression~. Work hard and impress us if you want to be chosen~!"

" **Yes, sir!** " the guild cheered.

Most of the guild left to their jobs, except for Team Poképals, who were still hungry from not having been able to eat last night. They turned to each other.

"Piplup, I'm still hungry," Chimchar said.

"Me too..."

"Hey, Team Poképals!" Chatot said to them. They went to him for a message.

"After what happened yesterday, both of you should give up on being chosen as expedition members."

" **Huh?! Why?!** " Piplup and Chimchar were shocked.

"That failure yesterday weighs so heavily, that it will be difficult to tell what our guildmaster is thinking from his demeanor. All I can tell that there's no doubt that he is still seething with anger inside, so it's unlikely that he would bother to choose both of you for the expedition. Just remember when it comes time to announce the members, don't get your hopes up. That is all."

Chatot left the floor, leaving Team Poképals alone here.

"I was already weak from hunger," Chimchar said, turning to Piplup, "now we're told something like _that_? There's no way I can get motivated now!"

"Psst, listen up!" said a voice.

"Huh?" Piplup wondered. "Where's that voice coming from?"

"Quiet! Over here!"

Team Poképals turned to see Bidoof, Sunflora, and Chimecho, who were still on the floor.

"It's all of you!" Chimchar said.

"Golly, not so loud!" Bidoof said as quietly as possible. "Let's go to your room!"

Piplup and Chimchar followed the three guild members to their own room.

* * *

Later, they arrived in Team Poképals' own room. Bidoof turned around to see if anyone else was watching.

"Whew!" Bidoof said with relief. "No one saw anything, except maybe Croagunk." He turned back and went to join the group.

"What's going on?" Chimchar demanded. "Why did you call us in here?"

"Here you go," Sunflora said, as she gave two apples, one to Piplup and Chimchar each.

" **Apples!** " they exclaimed.

"Both of you must be very hungry," Chimecho insisted.

"We all set aside a little bit of our dinners last night just for you," Bidoof said.

"Now eat up," Sunflora instructed.

" **Thanks, guys!** " the Poképals said.

They ate their apples, and felt refreshed.

"Now I feel like we can take on the world!" Piplup happily said.

"We can all use help when we're down," Sunflora said.

"Yup yup!" Bidoof exclaimed. "Every one of us needs to be able to work hard in order to be picked for the expedition!"

Team Poképals teared up, feeling grateful from the support of Chimecho, Bidoof, and Sunflora.

"T-thanks, guys," said Chimchar. "But about the expedition, Chatot came and told us that we're probably not gonna be chosen..."

"How could you say that?!" exclaimed Bidoof. "There's no telling what might happen! No sirree!"

"The members haven't even been picked yet!" insisted Sunflora.

"Guys," Piplup replied, "thanks for trying to cheer us up, but doesn't everybody wanna go on the expedition? What if we were chosen? If that were the case, someone else here might not get to go! Would you all be OK with that?!"

"No, I wouldn't like that," Sunflora sadly answered.

"But, of course," Chimecho said, "if someone is chosen, then that someone else can't go. That's just the way it works!"

"If you don't get picked for the expedition, you should just cheer for those who did."

"Yup yup!" Bidoof said. "Everyone wants to go on the expedition with you, Team Poképals."

Chimchar felt like he was going to bawl. "Honestly, guys, thank you!"

Sunflora, Chimecho, and Bidoof got close to Team Poképals to give them a comforting hug. After a few moments, they separated from each other, as Piplup and Chimchar felt better.

"We'll keep trying our best to get picked for the expedition," Piplup said. "We'll try till the end!"

"Yup yup!" Bidoof said. "That's the spirit!"

"Yes!" Chimecho said. "Let's all do our best!"

"We have to try harder so we can all go!" Sunflora said.

" **Yeah!** " Team Poképals exclaimed, feeling completely recharged by the words of encouragement.

* * *

When they went back out to the main room of the bottom floor of the guild, Team Poképals was brought by a blue frog pokémon named Croagunk to introduce his swap shop. It was within his swap cauldron, which he calls it, that Piplup and Chimchar could swap different items to earn specific items that could power up different pokémon for explorations in dungeons.

* * *

As Team Poképals went out the guild, an octillery and mr. mime noticed the Spinda's Café sign had a note posted over it. They talked about it to each other, and went into the café itself. Piplup and Chimchar followed them, and they discovered that it launched a new program that would allow for new dungeons around the Grass Continent to be discovered, and for new prizes to be won within the recycle shop. Team Poképals would eventually allow themselves to get to Treasure Town to prepare for their jobs today.

For the next few days, again with sentry duty mixed in, Piplup, Chimchar, and their team would work hard to earn more exploration points, and more importantly, get selected for the upcoming exploration.

* * *

Later one evening before supper, Chatot wanted to say something.

"Before we begin dinner tonight, I wish to make an announcement."

The guild members seemed to get impatient. They were starving.

"Hey, hey, heeeey!"

"Spit it out already!"

"You're preventing us from eating what's in front of us? This is an outrage!"

"Eek, this is so unfair! I feel faint from hunger!"

"Boooo!"

"Order!" Chatot yelled. "I must have order!"

Everyone quieted down.

"As I was saying," the parrot pokémon said, "I'm sure the selection process of the expedition members has been on everyone's minds. Our guildmaster has apparently made his final decisions~."

"WHOA!" everyone exclaimed. They cheered by the announcement.

"By golly, it's finally settled!" Bidoof said.

"The members will be announced during tomorrow morning's briefing," Chatot said. "It'll be something to look forward to~! Now, sorry to keep you waiting. We can now eat!"

Everybody agreed, and began eating their food.

* * *

Moments later in Team Poképals' room…

"They're finally gonna announce the members of the expedition tomorrow!" exclaimed Piplup to Chimchar.

"Yeah, but Chatot said we shouldn't get our hopes up," the fire monkey pokémon sadly insisted. "After all, we didn't bring back any of those perfect apples that Wigglytuff loves so much."

"But we still worked as hard as we could! That's the thing that should matter! Even if we don't get picked, we shouldn't regret anything."

Chimchar nodded in agreement. He later yawned, as he was getting tired.

"I'm getting drowsy. Let's get some sleep now. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's announcement."

"OK, Chimchar. Good night."

"Night."

Piplup and Chimchar then laid on their beds. Chimchar was the first to begin sleeping, but Piplup was still awake, worried about not being picked for the expedition.

 _No regrets,_ he thought, _right… But if we're not chosen for the exploration party...Chimchar will be crushed. He's trying so hard. I hope he and I get to go on the exploration. If that happens, that special ability I have may be useful then… Come to think of it, I haven't had any of those dizzy spells recently. It's still a useful ability, but not being able to see those visions when I want to is frustrating._ He was finally starting to get tired. _Thinking about everything too much will keep me from sleeping. I'd better get to sleep now too._ He looked over to Chimchar. _Good night, pal. I hope we get chosen tomorrow._

Piplup fell asleep with a smile on his beak.

* * *

Meanwhile within a cavern somewhere in the Grass Continent, laid a Time Gear…

"There it is! Another Time Gear!"

The mysterious pokémon went near the Time Gear and was about to grab it…

"This is the second one. Three more remain now..."

* * *

The next morning, Chatot was about to unveil the names of the members for the expedition.

"I will now announce the expedition members." He went over to Wigglytuff. "Guildmaster, the memo, please."

Chatot took a piece of paper that Wigglytuff held in his hand that bare the names of the expedition members.

"The chosen members are written on this memo," the parrot pokémon said. "Please step forward if your name is called."

The guild members turned to each other, anxious about the name selections.

"It's finally happening!"

"My heart's a-poundin', by golly."

Chatot got everyone's attention.

"Without further ado, I will announce those who've been chosen. Our first member is...Loudred~!"

"Y-yes! I DID IT!"

Team Poképals' "alarm clock" pokémon for every morning so far stepped forward and turned back to the members.

"If you really think about it, it's only NATURAL that I would get picked! WOO-HOO!"

A few guild members sweat-dropped at his comment.

"Says you..."

"Big talker, yup yup."

"Is he saying that he wasn't even nervous?"

Chatot made the next selection.

"Next up is...Corphish~!"

"Hey, hey, hey! I did it! I got picked!" He then quietly said, "What a relief!"

Chatot made another. "Next is...what's this? What a surprise! It's Bidoof!"

"Really?!" he exclaimed. "Really and truly?! I'm going on the expedition?!" He shook a bit.

"Is something the matter, Bidoof?" Chatot questioned.

"I sure want to step up, I truly do, but..." He teared up. "I'm feeling a might overwhelmed here. My legs aren't moving."

"Uhhh...OK," Chatot responded. "We'll ignore it and move on." He turned back to the note. "Next we have Sunflora and Chimecho~!"

"Us too?"

"Eeek! Oh my gosh!"

The two pokémon stepped forward to join the chosen members so far.

"...And that's all the expedition party members here!" Chatot said.

Chimchar was disappointed that he and Piplup weren't picked for the expedition. Team Skull noticed and whispered to each other, looking to be satisfied.

"Looks like those losers are out," Skuntank said.

"Serves 'em right!" Zubat replied.

"They had it coming," Koffing said.

"So that's it for the expedition members," Chatot continued, but noticed something else on the memo. "What's this…?"

Everyone turned to Chatot, who was struggling to read the scribbled rest of the writing on the paper. He criticized Wigglytuff's writing quietly, but later deciphered the writing and announced the following details.

"It appears that there are _more_ expedition members. They are...Diglett, Dugtrio, and Croagunk...and Chimchar and Piplup~!"

The remaining chosen members were surprised, with Team Poképals having wide smiles on their faces!

"That's all," Chatot said. "Wait, what?!" He turned to Wigglytuff with panic. "Guildmaster, this list seems to include... _every_ member of the guild!"

"Yup! That's right!"

"Well, it seems that the whole selection process was meaningless! But if we were all go, we would be leaving the guild empty! Are you sure it'll be all right to leave with no one to look after the guild?

"It'll be fine. We'll lock up properly~!"

"Guildmaster," said Skuntank as he stepped up, "I also have some misgivings." Wigglytuff turned to him. "Do you think perhaps we may have too many members for this expedition?"

"Hmm...when a friend asks something like that, I have to wonder why..."

"I mean, first of all, why does _everyone_ get to go? What's the point in having everyone participate?"

"Huh?! Of course there's a point! That is...if everyone went, it would be more fun!"

"What?!" Skuntank was shocked.

"We'll be noisy and excited and having fun!" Wigglytuff insisted. "I started thinking about it, and it made me so excited, I couldn't sleep~!"

"What…?"

Wigglytuff turned back to the entire guild.

"So that's how it is, everyone! We're all going on the expedition! It'll be fun, fun, fun~! Let's all do our best~!"

"HOORAY!" the guild cheered.

Chatot looked at everyone, looking as if he had no choice but to accept the fact that everybody would go on the expedition.

"Well, I guess that's settled. Fine. Let me explain the schedule. Right after this, I will hold a briefing on the expedition. As such, the chosen members, that is, everyone, will get prepared to embark on the expedition. Let me remind you that this is a guild-exclusive expedition, in other words, you cannot bring non-guild members of your teams. Those from Chimecho Assembly will also not be able to join the expedition. Keep all of this in mind while you're making preparations. When you're done preparing for the upcoming journey, return here at once, and inform me when ready. That is all. Dismissed!"

The entire guild, save for Chatot, Wigglytuff, and Team Skull, gathered together to discuss about the expedition, with emotions of excitement showing on their faces.

"I'm so happy, I could scream! Everyone's going on the expedition!"

"Our guildmaster's done it again! I'm so shocked, I'm tingling!"

Team Poképals was especially surprised with pleasure that they even got picked as well!

"I didn't think we'd get picked," Chimchar said, "so that came as a total shock! I'm so glad we never gave up!"

The other members continued the conversation.

"Hey, hey!"

"I'm mighty happy that they're even letting me go on this here expedition, yup yup! And not just me! Why, everyone gets to go! It's like I'm dreaming!"

"It's no dream. This is really happening! Anyway, since we are all going, it means that we're all going to be put to the test as well, and that's why I would like to propose that all of us apprentices work as one. Let's make this expedition a success!"

"Yippee! That's the spirit!"

"Yeah! THAT'S the spirit!"

"Let's do our best!"

Piplup spoke up for the guild members.

"OK, everyone! Let's band together and do it!"

" **YEAH!** " everybody cheered.

They all went their separate ways for now.

* * *

Team Poképals went to Treasure Town and prepared for the expedition that was about to happen within an hour or so. Since it would be days before everyone would come back, they would have to prepare well, as they would not be able to use the services of the town's departments until they came back. However, Piplup and Chimchar talked to a few pokémon in town and heard that there were many kecleon setting up shop within dungeons for explorers when they needed help on filling a near-empty or empty bag. That being said, Team Poképals decided to keep some of their Poké-cash in their pockets, and not deposit it all at Duskull Bank.

* * *

Later, Piplup and Chimchar came back into the guild and went to Chatot to inform him that they were ready for the long trip.

"Chatot," Piplup said, "we're ready for the expedition! We know that we can't bring members of our team who aren't guild members with us, but we'll have the guild help us if need be!"

"Good~! You and your partner seem full of spirit. Wait here until the rest of guild has prepared and returns here."

They nodded in approval.

* * *

The rest of the guild eventually returned for the final briefing before heading out for the expedition itself.

"For this expedition," Chatot began, "we will explore Fogbound Lake. This is a lake said to be located far to the east, however, it is perpetually enshrouded by a dense fog. As such, its actual existence has never been confirmed. It is merely the foggy mirage of a spot that lives to this day on rumor alone. It is also rumored...that a treasure of exquisite beauty is hidden there~!"

"Wow! Treasure?!" exclaimed Chimchar. "That means we're going on a treasure hunt! This is so exciting!"

"Yup! It will be fun, fun, fun~!" insisted Wigglytuff.

Team Skull quietly laughed in approval.

"Everyone," Chatot continued, "look at your Wonder Maps, please."

He pointed to a spot within the map that was covered in clouds.

"First off, _this_ is where Fogbound Lake is said to be. As an uncharted territory, the area is shown under a cloud cover." He pointed to where the guild was. "Our guild is _here_. As you can see, the lake is at a considerable distance from the guild." Chatot pointed back to another location just where Fogbound Lake was. "Therefore, we will encamp at the foot of the highlands _here_. This will serve as our base camp. If we were to travel all at once in a single group to the base camp, our mobility would be severely restricted, thus our strategy will be to split up into several groups to travel to the base camp."

Everybody closed their maps, put them back in their bags, and paid attention to Chatot again.

"I will now announce the groups. The first one is Sunflora, Loudred, Diglett, and Croagunk."

The first group turned to each other to discuss their selection.

"You guys BETTER not hold me back!"

"Like you're the one to talk!"

Chatot announced the next group. "The second one is Dugtrio, Chimecho, and Corphish."

This group also turned to each other.

"We'll be a solid group!"

"I promise to try my best!"

"Hey, hey, likewise!"

"The guildmaster and I shall travel as a pair," Chatot continued. Wigglytuff seemed to be displeased at his pairing with the parrot.

"Awwww! Do I have to go with you, Chatot?! That's so booooring!"

"Please don't be difficult. This is a key element of our strategy."

"Meanie."

Chatot turned back to the guild.

"Our guests, Team Skull, will travel independently as their own group."

Skuntank nodded in agreement.

"And last but not least," Chatot concluded, "our final group is Piplup, Chimchar, and Bidoof."

Team Poképals turned to Bidoof.

"We're in the same group!" he exclaimed with excitement. "I hope I can keep up, yup yup!"

"Same here!" Piplup replied.

"OK, everyone!" Chatot said, as everyone turned back to him. "Let's get to it and move on out~!"

" **HOORAY!** "

The members headed out of their guild to start the expedition. Their expedition party began making its way toward Fogbound Lake. According to the plan, the party itself was split into the designated groups. Team Poképals, along with Bidoof, plotted their course, and settled on a route along the seacoast in order to reach the base camp.


	7. The Big Expedition

_**Chapter 7**_

 _ **The Guild's Big Expedition**_

Piplup, Chimchar, and Bidoof all arrived just outside of the cave of Craggy Coast. It was situated along a coastal sea of water. Chimchar was the first to admire the sight.

"Wow, Piplup! You can see the sea from here! Just look from this cliff!"

"Yup yup!" Bidoof said. "I reckon this is looking more and more like a true expedition! The path ahead will surely get tricky to conquer, but that's just what real explorers would like to see!" He and Team Poképals turned to a statue of a pokémon behind them. "And this here is something well known to all us explorers...called a Kangaskhan Rock. It lets you stow and take out items, and allows you to warp back here whenever you're in trouble. This is a real help to travelers. I, myself however, never had much of a chance to use these Rocks, but I hope to one day, as this is my first expedition here! I'm still feeling kinda nervous, too!"

"Ha ha!" Piplup laughed. "We're sorta nervous too! We too are beginners still, but we'll still do our best." He reached into his team's bag, which had its space expanded just in time for the expedition. "For now, let's check our Wonder Map."

He pointed to the rocky structures, where they exactly were on the map.

"Our current location is _here_. We're supposed to link up with everyone at the base camp," he pointed to another spot, "which is way over _here_." He pointed to a snowy mountain. "For our first step, we should try reaching _this_ spot."

"Yup yup! I agree with the plan," Bidoof replied, as Piplup put away the Wonder Map.

Chimchar was anxious to get into the dungeon so that he and the team could get to the base as fast as they could.

 _Chimchar's acting like a leader,_ Piplup thought. _I haven't noticed it before until now. It has to be from the excitement from exploring that's bringing it out. He used to be very timid before, but he's trying so much harder now. That just has to make him stronger and more confident bit by bit._

The fire monkey pokémon noticed something different within the entrance to Craggy Coast's dungeon.

"Hey guys, if you look closely here, there are two paths. One sign here says the way to a side dungeon, while the other leads to the main dungeon itself. Piplup, which way should we go?"

"We should take the main path! That side path might look like a shortcut, but it might bring us back here, instead of moving on."

"OK, the main path it is! Let's go!"

The team made its way into the main dungeon.

* * *

Craggy Coast's main dungeon was filled with water-type pokémon. Since they did not have a fourth member to effectively protect Chimchar, Piplup would have to do his best once again to protect his buddy. However, when Team Poképals defeated certain enemies, they dropped treasure chests that the team would get open by a certain pokémon in Treasure Town after getting back from the expedition.

* * *

After nearly ten floors of traversing, Piplup, Chimchar, and Bidoof all managed to make it through outside to a rocky landscape. The sun was also starting to set.

"Whew..." said a relieved Bidoof. "I reckon we're finally through."

"Yeah, but we still have a long way to go toward the base camp," Chimchar replied, as he reached for his team's bag. "Let's check our Wonder Map." He took the map out and pointed to where the snowy mountain was. "Our present location is _here_." He pointed to where the camp was. It was not far now. "The base camp is _there_."

"I reckon we've gotten ourselves a lot closer," Bidoof said, as the team put its map away in their bag.

"That means we're nearly there!" Piplup said with excitement. "If we can cross over this mountain, we'll reach the base camp."

Bidoof's stomach suddenly growled.

"Whoops...that was my belly growling."

Piplup and Chimchar's bellies also growled,

"We're hungry too!" they both said.

"It's getting late here," Piplup insisted, "so we'll just call it a day and rest here tonight."

Chimchar and Bidoof nodded in agreement. They put their bags down, got out their food and started eating.

* * *

The next morning, Team Poképals and Bidoof packed up their stuff, put the newly acquired treasure chests in the Kangaskhan Rock, and were ready to resume their trek to the base camp.

"All right, gang," Chimchar said. "Let's keep moving."

They went to the entrance of Mt. Horn's dungeon.

"Getting through this mountain here will take us to the base camp, yup yup!" Bidoof said. "Let's get 'er done!"

Once again, there were two different dungeons within the cave itself. Like before at Craggy Coast, Team Poképals took the main path of Mt. Horn in order to get closer to the base camp.

* * *

The main dungeon of Mt. Horn consisted nearly 15 floors of bug-type pokémon. It was Piplup that needed support from both Chimchar and Bidoof in order for his team to get through the dungeon.

* * *

Later, they were out of Mt. Horn.

"We're not far now, guys!" Piplup said. "I can see the base camp just up ahead!"


	8. Groudon's Heart

_**Chapter 8**_

 _ **Groudon's Heart**_

Team Poképals and Bidoof managed to reach the base camp at last. The rest of the guild was already there.

"Howdy, folks!" Bidoof said. "Sorry to keep you all waiting!"

Chatot angrily turned back toward them.

"All of you are late! Everyone else here arrived awhile ago! Make haste and go set your equipment down!"

Team Poképals and Bidoof did as they were instructed.

"Now that everyone's assembled," Chatot continued, "let's get on with our strategy briefing."

Everyone except Piplup made their way toward the spot of where the briefing was to take place. Chimchar and Bidoof turned back to him.

"What's wrong, pal?" Chimchar questioned.

 _Something's weird about this place,_ Piplup thought, _but I don't know what it may be! I'm not sure why I'm feeling this way, but…_ He had a light bulb turn on in his head. _Wait a second! I know this place! I might have been here before! It could have something to do with me before I lost my memory!_

He was snapped out of his thoughts as Chatot rushed back to the group, urging them to get moving.

"Come on! We haven't got all day!"

Chimchar turned to Piplup.

"He's right. We better get going!"

All of them finally made their way to the briefing.

* * *

As soon as the guild gathered at the meeting space, Chatot began his briefing.

"It looks like everyone has arrived at our base camp without harm. We will now proceed to explore Fogbound Lake~!" He turned to the path ahead of the guild. "As you can see, we are in a densely forested area." He turned back to the members. "Somewhere within this forest, the lake itself is supposedly concealed, but so far, it's been nothing more than a rumor. Exploration teams of all sorts have mounted a challenge, but so far, Fogbound Lake has eluded its own discovery."

Corphish was anxious and demanded whether or not the lake exists.

"Hey, hey! Is this Fogbound Lake really there or not?!"

Sunflora turned to him.

"Silly Corphish, you'll wreck the dream if you say something like that!"

"Yeah, don't spoil things now!" Loudred inserted.

"Hey, hey, I get it!" Corphish answered.

"Um, may I?" Chimecho said, as everyone turned to her. It appeared she wanted to say something else. "While we were traveling, I heard about a certain legend."

"A legend?" Chatot questioned.

"Yep. A legend about Fogbound Lake. According to the legend, the lake itself is home to a pokémon named Uxie. This pokémon is said to be extremely rare, and it's believed that Uxie can lock eyes with others to wipe their memories clean."

Piplup was shocked at the description.

 _What?! Wipe their memories clean?!_

"That is why," Chimecho continued, "even if travelers were to stumble upon Fogbound Lake, Uxie would wipe their memories clean, thereby muzzling the travelers from revealing the existence of the lake. That is how Uxie protects Fogbound Lake. I was told such a legend remains."

The rest of the members were astounded by the legend.

"Golly, that's a pretty hair-raising tale..."

"What'll I do if my MEMORY is wiped clean?"

"I don't think you'll have much to worry about that."

Chatot got everyone's attention and continued his briefing.

"As I was saying, you should realize that places of this sort can be expected to have a folktale or legend attached to them. Our guild has overcome difficult challenges and obstacles when conducting successful explorations."

The guild agreed with his statement.

"Eek, absolutely!"

"That's how our guild has earned the reputation of being first class."

Wigglytuff stepped forward to assure his own guild.

"Don't worry everyone, everything will be all right~! Let's believe in success for this adventure too, and more importantly...try~!"

Chatot turned back to the guild and once again continued his briefing.

"Now let's move on with our plan. The guildmaster and I will remain here to gather intelligence from our teams in the field. You are to go off in teams to explore this forest. Be aware that it is enshrouded in a deep fog, meaning that once you enter it, visibility will be severely limited. Because of that, we believe that Fogbound Lake has defied discovery, but perhaps there can be a way to lift this fog. Therefore, your search will have two objectives. First, search for Fogbound Lake, and second, find a way to lift the fog. If you accomplish one or both, return to the base camp and tell me or the guildmaster. That is all. Now let's give it our best as always, everyone~!"

" **HOORAY!** " the guild cheered.

The members turned to each other to open their discussions.

"Let's all try our best!"

"It'd be nice if we made a discovery or two!"

"We'll find the lake! I'm sure of it!"

"I'll be the FIRST to find it!"

"Dad," Diglett said, turning to Dugtrio, his father, "do you think maybe Fogbound Lake could be underground? I was thinking we should try looking under the surface."

"Ah, my son, I like your thinking. You make me proud. Let's look underground." He turned to everyone else. "OK everyone, we're off." Dugtrio and Diglett burrowed themselves to go looking for the lake.

The remaining guild members began to wrap up their conversation.

"Hey, hey! We can't afford to dawdle, either!"

"Yup, yup, we need to hurry!"

Everyone else except Team Skull and Team Poképals left into the forest. Team Skull was eventually the next group to make its way.

"Well boys," Skuntank turned to his fellow members, "we should go too!"

They laughed and followed him into the forest. Chimchar turned to Piplup.

"We need to hurry too, Piplup," the fire monkey pokémon said. "Let's go!"

The penguin pokémon was again lost in thought.

 _I know this place… According to the legend, Uxie can wipe the memories of certain pokémon clean. Are the lake and the legend really just a coincidence? Maybe I might have come here before I lost my memory, and met Uxie, the one who wiped my memory clean. Could that have happened to me?_

Chimchar snapped his partner out of his thoughts.

"Hey, Piplup! Why do you keep drifting off like that? It's not like you! Let's get ready and go into the forest!"

"OK, I'm right with you!"

* * *

Team Poképals went to the Kangaskhan Rock within the base camp to deposit some of their unwanted items, and replace those with better ones for traversing the forest. Once they did, they were again faced with two dungeons to choose from, just like with Craggy Coast and Mt. Horn. They once more took the main path to Foggy Forest, the name of the main dungeon.

* * *

Just as Team Poképals was about to make its way in, Piplup stopped for another thought.

 _Maybe the key to unlocking my memory is here in Fogbound Lake. I may find some answers if the lake itself can be found…_

"Huh? What is this?" Chimchar said from afar. "Piplup, come have a look at this!"

The penguin pokémon went over to his partner to get a closer look at a shiny gem.

"This must be some kind of stone," Piplup said.

"Yeah!" Chimchar replied. "It's red and pretty! It actually looks like a gem!" He picked it up and put it in his team's bag. "Boy, it feels very warm! It's like heat is coming from the stone! It doesn't seem to be lava, though. It's rare, so we'll keep it."

"OK, pal! Let's get into the forest!"

They made their way into Foggy Forest.

* * *

The main dungeon of Foggy Forest contained just a little over ten floors of mostly normal-type pokémon. This was advantageous for both Piplup and Chimchar, as they held no weaknesses at all against their foes here.

* * *

Team Poképals eventually arrived at the end of the dungeon, and were amazed at the sight of multiple waterfalls ahead of them.

"Incredible!" Chimchar said, amazed by the sight. "The water's coming down in waterfalls all over the place!"

Piplup turned to his pal.

"I think this must be the deepest part of the forest!"

Chimchar looked around the thick fog, unsure about which way they were going to go next.

"This fog is so thick, I can't tell which we way should go."

"Hey, hey, hey! Over here!" a voice called out. Team Poképals turned to a path between the waterfalls to see who it was.

"It's Corphish!" Piplup said. "Let's go meet him there!"

Chimchar followed his partner to the ruffian pokémon.

"Did both of you find any clues?" questioned Corphish.

"Nope, nothing yet," Chimchar answered. "What about you?"

"I've got nothing here, either. Don't let it get you down, though. There's something here though that took my interest. It's right behind me."

Team Poképals, along with Corphish, went forward to where there was a statue of a pokémon standing diagonally. It was not positioned properly, due to a possible earthquake.

"Wh-what is this?!" Piplup and Chimchar exclaimed.

"I don't know," Corphish insisted, "but as far as I can tell, it seems to be a statue of a pokémon."

"But what kind is it?" Piplup responded.

"I'm not sure. I've never seen a pokémon like that before."

Chimchar browsed around the statue, inspecting to see something interesting within it. Seconds later, he found something written on one of the sides.

"Something's inscribed here! Come have a look!"

Piplup and Corphish went to where the inscription was. They read it as carefully as they could.

"Hmm...I can't understand this," Piplup said.

"It's in footprint runes. Let me read it," Chimchar replied. He carefully began reading from the runes. "'Reignite the life that burned within Groudon, then the sky shall blaze with the sun's heat. The path to treasure shall then be revealed.'" He took a moment to figure out what it meant. 'The path to treasure'? That's incredible!" He turned to his best friend. "Piplup, do you know what this means?!"

"Yeah! It could be the treasure of Fogbound Lake! The secret to finding the lake itself could be hidden right here!"

"Hey, hey, you think so?" Corphish wondered. "That could be a mystery we need to solve!"

Team Poképals turned to him.

"This part of the footprint runes," Chimchar replied, "and the part about the 'life the burned within Groudon', are things we need to know about! This Groudon here, could be this statue _here_ , right?"

"Hey, hey! So we're supposed to, what, ignite the life that was in this statue?"

"Yeah, but how do we do it?"

They wondered about that "igniting the life" part for a few moments, then Chimchar got an idea.

"Wait a minute!" He turned to his pal. "I know what you should do, Piplup! Touch this statue here! Maybe you'll see another vision or something!"

 _That's just what I had in mind,_ the penguin pokémon thought. _He's right! If it means finding the key to my own past, I may just find the answers held within this statue!_

"OK, I'll do it!"

Piplup got close to the statue of Groudon and touched it. He could feel the dizzy sensation coming back to his head!

 _It's coming! Here it goes!_

A flash of light came to Piplup's vision, and within seconds, he could only hear a voice talking in his head while it was pitch black in the vision.

" _That's it!" the voice said. "It's here!"_

A few more seconds later, the audible vision had ended.

 _What the-?! Whose voice was that?!_ Piplup thought.

Just then, another dizzy sensation struck him!

 _Again? And so soon after the first one!_

Another audible vision came his head then, with the same voice being heard.

" _I see! Place the Drought Stone in Groudon's heart to lift the fog! That's some great work, partner!"_

The vision ended.

 _It's that voice again!_ Piplup wondered. _That one went differently from what I've gotten before, though. Both of those visions only featured that voice, and I still don't know what that voice belonged to. I didn't even get a sense of what it really sounded like...it's bugging me for some reason._

"Piplup, is something wrong?" Chimchar said, a little worried. "Did you see anything?"

The penguin pokémon turned to his friend, but quickly turned back for another thought.

 _That voice said, "Place the Drought Stone in Groudon's heart to lift the fog"…_ A light went on in his head. _Wait! Drought Stone?! Maybe it's that gem that we picked up before we entered the Foggy Forest!_

"Guys, come over here!"

Chimchar and Corphish went to where Piplup was headed, to the front of the statue.

"There's a small hollow within the statue's chest here!" Piplup said.

"That must mean you figured something out!" Chimchar insisted.

"Can you give me the stone we found at the base camp so I can fit it in the statue's chest?"

"Sure!" Chimchar took the warm, red stone from the team's bag and gave it to Piplup. "Here ya go!"

The penguin pokémon put the stone into the indentation, and one eye of the statue glowed red. The ground then suddenly began to shake!

"Let's get back, everybody!" Chimchar ordered.

He and the two companions got back as quick as they can, as the statue let out a burst of energy!

Seconds later, the fog around the area was lifted like magic! The three pokémon looked around to see the effects.

"Hey, hey!" Corphish said. "The fog's all gone!"

"The sky also cleared," Chimchar continued. "The sun's shining down on us!" He glanced up to see something else. "Hey guys, look up! You're not gonna believe this!"

Piplup and Corphish looked up to see a tall and strange rock formation that was thin at the bottom, but thick and wide at the top. There were multiple waterfalls from almost all sides.

"I think this was what the fog was hiding!" Chimchar said. "It's no wonder Fogbound Lake evaded discovery all this time! We were just wandering around in circles too!"

"Hey, hey! So are you saying," Corphish replied, "that the lake is up _there_?!"

"Yes! That's what I think! Fogbound Lake _has_ to be up there!"

"Then this is no time to be gawking! I'll go and let everyone in the guild know! Both of you can go on ahead!"

Corphish left Team Poképals, as he searched for the remainder of the guild. Piplup turned to Chimchar.

"What are we waiting for, Chimchar? Let's get to that lake up there!"

"That's the spirit, pal!"

They started to make their way toward the strange, tall rock structure, when they were interrupted by a voice.

"Hold it right there!"

They turned to see who it was...and it was Team Skull!

"It's them!" Piplup exclaimed.

"What're you brutes doing here?!" Chimchar questioned with a bit of anger.

"We've come to commend you!" Skuntank answered.

"And since you've solved the mystery," Koffing said, "you're no longer of use to us!"

"Thanks to you," Zubat said, "we can swipe the treasure!"

"So _that's_ why all of you joined the expedition!" Piplup furiously replied. "You planned all of this along!"

"Did you expect anything less?!" Koffing responded.

"Sorry to say it," Skuntank said, "but we're gonna get rid of you right here!"

Team Poképals was alarmed by the threat.

"We'll make you eat those words," Piplup replied, "and the dirt, for that matter! We'll stop _all_ of you from getting to Fogbound Lake!"

"Chaw-haw-haw!" Skuntank laughed. "Did you already forget our last showdown? Let me remind you how both of you lost to Koffing and I! We destroyed you with our noxious gas combo!"

Chimchar shook in fear, and realized things looked hopeless for both him and Piplup.

"Face it, you're destined to fail again!" Skuntank insisted. "Enough talking! Take _this_!"

Just as he and Koffing were about to unleash their moves to Team Poképals, a voice suddenly interrupted them!

"Waah! Wait for me!"

A perfect apple suddenly rolled in front of both teams.

"Come back, my perfect apple~!" the voice said.

Everyone turned to see where the voice came from. It was Wigglytuff! He ran over to his perfect apple and picked it up.

"I finally caught you, my perfect apple~! If it went away, I'd lose my temper completely!"

He looked to see both Team Poképals and Team Skull.

"Ahhh~! Everybody's all together~! Yay~!"

"G-guildmaster," Skuntank said, a little embarrassed of what was going on, "what're you doing here?"

Wigglytuff turned to him.

"Huh? What am I doing? I was taking a walk in the forest, then my perfect apple went rolling away from me. I ran and ran, and here I am~."

He then turned around to Team Poképals.

"Oh, both of you shouldn't be dawdling here, should you? You should continue exploring! Go on then, off you go~!"

"B-but-" Piplup and Chimchar said, but Wigglytuff interrupted them.

"You don't wanna listen to your guildmaster? Boo-hoo! Hurry, get back to exploring~!"

"Uhhh...OK." Team Poképals said, sweat-dropping their faces.

They decided to move on and go toward the rock structure to find Fogbound Lake. Wigglytuff danced around, deciding to fool around for a bit, which embarrassed Team Skull.

"Uh, guildmaster," Skuntank said. Wigglytuff turned to him.

"What's the matter, friend~?"

"We were thinking we should go explore too!"

"Oh! That's all right! I can't trouble my friends like that! But I trust Team Poképals to do the exploring here. You'll have to wait for their report~!"

Wigglytuff turned back and danced around again. Team Skull was beginning to lose their patience. Zubat went close to his team leader Skuntank, whispering about something.

"Chief, this is getting _really_ weird..."

"Team Poképals is gonna beat us to the prize if we don't do something," Koffing insisted. "What'll we do?"

"We have no choice," Skuntank said. "but to take Wigglytuff down right now, so that we can catch up to Team Poképals!"

"Will it be all right, though?" questioned Zubat.

"Of course! He's no big deal, and besides, he may have an unbelievably precious treasure stored away! Might as well make it worth our time!" He turned to Koffing. "Hey, Koffing, let's prepare for the noxious gas combo."

Wigglytuff still danced around, not paying attention to Team Skull's possible attack that was about to happen.


	9. Mystery of Fogbound Lake

_**Chapter 9**_

 _ **The Mystery of Fogbound Lake**_

Team Poképals made its way to the entrance of the tall and strange rock plateau's dungeon. Around the entrance, there were pools of water, but they had intense heat emitting from them, as bubbles formed and popped instantly. Steam was also pouring out from the rocks. Piplup and Chimchar felt the heat at the entrance.

"Boy, it's pretty hot here!" Chimchar said.

"It'll be nothing compared to what we'll face in the dungeon itself," replied Piplup, "so we better prepare ourselves well!"

"Yeah, I'm just shaking with anticipation! What will await us inside, and then at the top? I can't even imagine what'll be in store for us! We're heading into a place where nobody's been before! It's making my pulse race, but in a good way!"

Piplup couldn't help but laugh in agreement at his friend's anticipation. They went to the Kangaskhan rock to prepare their items to get through the Steam Cave.

* * *

Meanwhile at the Groudon statue, Team Skull still could not find an opportunity to knock out Wigglytuff.

"What's going on, chief?" Zubat said to Skuntank. "Is something wrong?"

"You've been staring at him for too long," Koffing said. "Let's give him our dose of our noxious gas already!"

"Shaddup!" Skuntank yelled. "I'm nervous!"

"What's wrong, my dear friends?" Wigglytuff said. "You're making scary faces toward me!"

"For some reason," the leader of Team Skull said to his teammates, "this guy's tough...really tough."

"I get it!" the guildmaster said. "You're trying to make me laugh with your silly faces of yours! I bet you can make me laugh too!" He began to make silly faces himself.

Skuntank's teammates seemed to lose their patience.

"Chief, come on!" Koffing yelled to him. "Enough's enough! This weirdo in front of us is creeping us out!"

"OK, fine then! Let's go for it!"

Team Skull all turned to Wigglytuff to finally excute their plan.

"Hey, Wigglytuff!" Skuntank said. The guildmaster put on a serious face and stopped making silly faces.

"What is it?"

"No hard feelings, but you're going down! Koffing and I will now use our noxious-gas special!"

A purple ball of gas spewed out from them in an attempt to knock out Wigglytuff!

* * *

Back to Team Poképals, who just entered Steam Cave, they had to deal with fire-type pokémon for around the first ten floors. Chimchar neither benefited nor suffered from the type match-up, but Piplup made use of it.

* * *

When they got halfway up through the cave, Piplup and Chimchar took a little rest on the midway rest room by having a little chat.

"We've made it pretty far up!" Chimchar said.

"We must be getting close to the top!" Piplup replied.

All of a sudden, they heard a roar coming from further up in the cave!

"I'm not sure what that was," the fire monkey pokémon said, "but it might be just my imagination. We're almost there anyway, so let's keep going."

Piplup nodded in agreement. He and Chimchar tried to leave the rest room, but they heard the roar again!

"Ahhh!" Chimchar said, who was terrified. "Did you hear that, Piplup?!"

"Yeah, you weren't imagining that sound after all! It sounded like some sorta roar! I wonder what kind of big pokémon we'll face at the top!"

"Who knows what's ahead? We'll just have to tough it out and keep moving forward!"

"Right! There's no turning back now!"

Chimchar went ahead, but Piplup stayed in his spot for a thought.

 _When we reach the top, we may finally meet Uxie at last. He may answer the big question of who I really am, and what my true name is, before I lost my memory. Speaking of which, I still haven't said a word about this to Chimchar..._

Piplup's partner went back to him.

"What is it now, Piplup?" Chimchar said.

"I have to tell you something!"

They had a conversation, as Piplup confessed about what might have happened to him meeting Uxie…

"You...what?!" Chimchar exclaimed in shock. "Ever since we reached base camp, you've had a feeling that you somehow know this place?"

"Yes," Piplup answered.

"You also learned about Uxie who lives at Fogbound Lake, who erases visitors' memories, according to legend?"

"Yeah! I suspect I've been here before! I think I might've encountered him, who then took my memory!"

"I see… That's what's been on your mind this whole time! That makes it all the more reason to get to the top! We just need to meet Uxie and find out what really happened to you! Perhaps he can also provide the answers to what you were like, and what your real name is, before you lost your memory."

"Let's go and make our way to the top, then!"

Team Poképals finally made its way out of the room.

* * *

The upper floors of the Steam Cave were oddly filled with bug-type pokémon instead of fire-types. Chimchar would have to help out his pal, who was weak to the match-up disadvantage. Nevertheless, the next few floors proved to be almost no challenge to them at all.

* * *

When they got to the peak of Steam Cave, Team Poképals was in a large, wide, rocky room. They could feel that air was filled with high tension, which made them feel uneasy, even more so for Chimchar. He and Piplup felt they were about to be faced with danger…

All of a sudden, an ear-deafening roar sounded within the peak!

"Ahh!" Chimchar shrieked. "It's that sound we heard earlier, Piplup!"

"No doubt! It was indeed a roar!"

The roar sounded off again, then loud stomping shook the room. Something big was coming towards Team Poképals!

* * *

Meanwhile, outside at the Groudon statue, Corphish led the rest of the guild, except for Wigglytuff, toward the statue itself.

"Is this the statue you were talking about?" Chatot questioned.

He nodded his head. Sunflora, meanwhile, noticed if Wigglytuff, and Team Skull, was around here.

"Where's the guildmaster and Team Skull, though?"

"Are you really sure that you saw the guildmaster, Corphish?" Chatot said.

"I'm sure! I saw him when I was scuttling back to camp! He dashed past me to chase a perfect apple! I tried to shout and wave to him, but he seemed too occupied to holler back. As for Team Poképals, I allowed them to go ahead to try and get to the lake. I'd have to guess that the guildmaser went up after 'em!"

The loud stomping noises were then heard from afar, startling most of the entire guild as the ground shook.

"The ground's shaking!"

They heard a loud roar from the tall rock structure!

"What could it be?!"

"What an uproar that was!"

"Something must be going on up there!"

The guild headed for the plateau. Diglett and his father Dugtrio, however, heard something else.

"Dad, did you hear something like moaning and groaning right over there?"

"You must've just imagined it! Now, let's hurry!"

"Yep!"

They caught up to the guild. Unknowing to them, the groans came from Team Skull, who were down from their sudden backfire from their attempted attack on Wigglytuff.

"I'm so deflated, I can't move!" Koffing said.

"How did that happen?" Skuntank said. "How did Wigglytuff shrug off our noxious-gas special like it was nothing?"

"And h-how he struck back at us," Zubat said, "was unbelievable!"

They all collectively groaned in pain.

* * *

Meanwhile at the peak of Steam Cave, the roaring and stomping was getting louder, as a big, red pokémon came towards Team Poképals!

"Wh-what in the world is _that_?!" Chimchar exclaimed.

"That giant pokémon looks just like the one at the statue!" Piplup answered. "That thing must really exist!"

The giant pokémon roared at them again!

"Have both of you come to desecrate this place?" He said. "If not, depart _now_!"

"B-but we just wanna go to Fogbound Lake!" Chimchar insisted.

"I will not allow it! I, _Groudon,_ guardian of the lake, will never make you leave alive, intruders!" He stomped the ground with force, frightening Team Poképals!

* * *

Meanwhile outside of Steam Cave, the guild had just arrived at the entrance.

"There's the way in!"

"We can go up through here!"

"Let's HURRY!"

They made their way in, and continued talking through the cave.

"Hey, Chatot! Can I ask you something while we're running? Do you know about a pokémon called Groudon?"

"Of course!" the parrot pokémon replied. "Groudon is a legendary pokémon spoken of in myths passed down through generations. "

"A legendary pokémon?"

"Correct. The myths say that he raised the land from the sea, and built up the continents!"

"Hoo-boy! That sounds like a colossal pokémon! What if you were to face Groudon in battle?! What would happen then?!"

"Battling Groudon?! Now _that's_ out of the question! If anyone were foolish enough to face him in battle, it would be like throwing your life away! He's _that_ strong, like all other legendary pokémon!"

* * *

Back at Steam Cave's peak, Groudon roared at Team Poképals once more.

Chimchar was getting scared beyond belief!

"T-this is scary!" He managed to gather himself, and put on a serious face. "But we need to be brave! I have to face up to this!"

"You're right, Chimchar!" Piplup responded, as he and his friend got into their battle stances. "There's no giving up now!"

"So be it, then!" Groudon said. "Prepare to face my wrath!" He roared at his small but brave opponents, and the battle began!

Facing a gigantic pokémon like Groudon, Team Poképals knew that they would have their work cut out for them. With days of training and battling different pokémon, they had to utilize their best moves as much as they could. Piplup had to mix four of his moves between Bubble Beam, Peck, Brine, and Fury Attack. Chimchar, meanwhile, followed suit with his own moves; Flame Wheel, Fury Swipes, Facade, and Fire Spin.

After a few moments of furious action, Piplup and Chimchar were able to weaken Groudon. This was their chance to finish the battle!

"OK, pal!" Piplup said, turning to Chimchar. "Now's our chance to finish him off!"

"Got it! We'll use our best moves, then!"

They cried out their moves…

" **Brine!** "

" **Fire Spin!** "

They executed their moves to perfection, hitting Groudon without fail! He staggered a few feet back, roaring in pain, then he collapsed to the ground.

"We did it!" Chimchar cried. "We defeated him!"

Piplup and Chimchar turned to each other, jumped high in the air and gave each other a high five!

" **YEAH!** " they cheered.

After they landed back on ground, they turned to face Groudon again, who suddenly emitted a ball of white light from himself. The light blinded Team Poképals, and a few seconds later, he was gone.

"Huh?! He disappeared!" Chimchar exclaimed in shock.

"That was not Groudon," a voice said. "He was nothing more than an illusion that I conjured."

"Who are you?" Piplup questioned. "Show yourself!"

"I am the _real_ guardian here. I still cannot allow you to pass."

"B-but we're not here to cause trouble!" insisted Chimchar. "We only came here for information! Honest!"

"We may be an exploration team," Piplup said, "but we'd like to leave with treasure after all our efforts! We can leave though if you have a problem with that. We'll just be happy that we made it this far."

"Please believe us!"

The real guardian gave it a little thought, and passed down his judgment.

"OK, I believe you."

Suddenly, a pokémon appeared in front of Team Poképals. He had a yellow head, with a red gem implanted on his forehead, and a light blue body. He had his eyes closed.

"Let me welcome you, then. I am Uxie, the real guardian of Fogbound Lake."

"What?!" Chimchar exclaimed in shock. "You're THE Uxie?!"

"Yes, truly. I stand guard over something special that is lying within Fogbound Lake. Allow me to escort the both of you over there."

Piplup and Chimchar followed Uxie to where the lake was…

* * *

Team Poképals and Uxie arrived outside to the Fogbound Lake, where the sky was now a dark blue color with stars shining. Night had arrived.

"Now, it may be a little difficult to see at night," Uxie began, "but _here_ , is Fogbound Lake!"

Piplup and Chimchar were amazed at the sight of the lake. Different colored balls of light shone over the lake, with one giant light being emitted from the center of the lake itself, within the water.

"This is incredible!" Chimchar exclaimed. "Who'd expect to see such a big lake on a plateau so high up?! Not to mention the floating volbeat and illumise, too! They're so beautiful!"

"Water constantly wells up from far below this place," Uxie said. "It flows up so heavily that it has long formed this enormous lake." He turned back to Team Poképals. "Now focus your eyes to the glowing area at the center of the lake."

"I can see it!" Chimchar said. "It's that blue-greenish radiance, right?"

"Correct. Step forward for a closer look."

They did as they were instructed, and they saw a mysterious object within the light in the lake's waters.

 _What could that be?_ Piplup thought. _Even though I can't tell what it is, it's making my heart race! But why would it do so? Why is my pulse speeding all of a sudden?_

"Fantastic!" Chimchar said. "But what is that? It's got such a mystical quality!"

"That right there," Uxie explained, "is a Time Gear."

"What?! That's a Time Gear?!"

"Yes. I myself guard the Time Gear, which is the sole reason why I am here." He turned back to Team Poképals. "Others before you have tried to trespass here. As a result, I used my Groudon illusion to chase most of them off. I created it using my psychic abilities. Watch."

He used his powers to create the illusion of Groudon right beside Piplup and Chimchar. They were surprised by this, as they moved back a few feet.

"There is no need to be startled," assured Uxie. "As I've said, it's just an illusion. What you fought was no more than that. There were others before that managed to defeat it, and made their way to this spot here. They were, however, trespassers, so I took away their memories in order to protect this lake."

Chimchar stepped forward.

"You took away their memories…?" He thought about it for a moment, then a light went on in his head. "That's right! We have to ask you something, Uxie!" He pointed to Piplup. "My partner, Piplup here, was once a human!"

"A human?" questioned Uxie.

"Yes, but he's lost all memory of being a human! He even forgot his own name! We're wondering if you met him here before! Did you take away his memory? Has it ever happened? Do you know what his real name is? Did a human like him ever come here?"

With so many of those questions being asked to Uxie, he decided to answer the last one first. "The answer is...no. No human has ever come here. I should explain further, that I erase only the memories of Fogbound Lake. I cannot fully erase all memories from living beings. Thus, I had nothing to do with your friend's memory loss, nor anything with him turning into a pokémon. The cause lies elsewhere. Also, as for the question of your partner's true name, that too, I cannot answer."

"Aww, man," Piplup complained. "I guess that can't be helped."

Chimchar turned to him. "I suppose that answers your question, pal." He turned back to Uxie. "Uxie, we hoped to meet you to learn more about my friend-"

He was suddenly interrupted by a voice behind him.

"A Time Gear? Too bad for you!"

Team Poképals and Uxie turned to see that it was Wigglytuff.

"We can't take a Time Gear," he said.

"It's Wigglytuff!" Piplup exclaimed.

The guildmaster went up to the cliff near the water to take in the view.

"Wow! It's fantastic!"

"Uxie, meet our guildmaster!" Chimchar said, turning to Uxie.

"Glad to meet you, friend~!" Wigglytuff cheerfully said. He went over to the illusion of Groudon, and greeted it as well. "Nice to meet you too, friend~!"

Team Poképals could only sweat-drop in confusion. Wigglytuff went back to the cliff to view the lake again.

* * *

Meanwhile, the rest of the guild finally arrived near Fogbound Lake.

"Whew! Finally here at last!"

"No time to catch our breath. We've gotta hurry!"

"Hey, hey! We've got some folks over there!"

"Let's go, then!"

They made their way to where everyone was at the lake. Before they could, they were surprised by the sight of the Groudon illusion. Wigglytuff went over to them to calm them down.

"Hi! No need to worry, it's just an illusion! Come have a look at _this_ beauty~!"

They followed him, where they were shown a water geyser bursting from within the lake, with several illumise and volbeat flying. The members were amazed at the sight.

"Oh, my! So shimmering!"

"It's pretty alright, yup yup!"

"That there is a lake geyser," Uxie explained. "It erupts every now and then. It sends up water, just like a fountain, while the Time Gear sends up illumination from below, and many illumise and volbeat can be seen glowing within the fountain in harmony, being the very vision of beauty!"

"The treasure, then," Wigglytuff said, "must be the view of Fogbound Lake!"

After a few moments of everyone taking in the spectacular view, Chimchar spoke up.

"Are you taking in this view, Piplup? It's so magical!"

"It's a shame that we didn't learn anything about my past, though. I'm still glad we came! I'm so happy that I got to see such a magnificent scene with everyone else here! I truly am happy."

The penguin pokémon put himself in thought mode for a few moments.

 _I know we never learned who I really am, but...wait a minute! Uxie said that he didn't know me, but if that's true...how did I know about this place, and that Time Gear?! Speaking of which, when I saw it for the first time, why did my pulse race? What did that feeling of uneasiness mean? Well, I'll have to find those answers to my questions for another time, I guess… I'm so impressed by the view of this lake!_

Wigglytuff turned to Uxie.

"Sorry if we disturbed you~! We still had a fantastic time, friend~!"

"Since all of you have been so honest, I will not take away your memories of this place. You have earned my trust. However, I have one last request. I want _all_ of you to keep this place a secret at all costs."

"Surely~! We'll know what to do from there! Thanks~! Since one of the Time Gears was stolen, this one must stay safe! We won't _ever_ say a word about this place! This I swear in the name of my guild!"

"Please hold true to that promise."

"OK, then! We'll be on our way!"

The guildmaster turned to Chatot.

"Chatot, if you will?"

"Sure thing, guildmaster!"

The parrot pokémon turned to the guild members.

"Everybody, we are now going back home to the guild! Our expedition has been declared a success!"

" **HOORAY!** "

* * *

Everyone in the guild made their way down the plateau, away from it, and marched back home. Their long and challenging expedition finally came to an end. A couple of days later, they safely returned to the guild, and for Team Poképals and the rest of the apprentices, going back to the guild meant going back to their standard training schedule. It was life as usual back at the guild!


	10. Dusknoir

_**Chapter 10**_

 _ **Dusknoir**_

"UP AND AT 'EM, IT'S MORNIN'!" bellowed Loudred to Team Poképals. He turned around and left their room to get ready for the guild's usual morning cheers. Piplup and Chimchar were dazed as usual by the loud purple alarm clock.

"Ugh, it's been a while since we were woken up like that!" Chimchar said.

"Yeah, no kidding," Piplup replied. "But what can you do about it? Of course, nothing more but to get back to work today!"

They got up, shook off the dizziness, and took all of their belongings to attend today's morning cheers.

* * *

After the cheers were done, Team Poképals was about to make their way to the job bulletin board floor to take new jobs, but were interrupted by Loudred surprising them.

"WHAT?! You can't identify the footprint?!" he yelled to Diglett. "What do ya MEAN?!"

"I'm trying to tell you that I can't identify what I don't know!"

Chatot and Team Poképals went over to the sentry entrance to see what the commotion was all about.

"What's wrong?" demanded Chatot.

"We've got a problem identifying a visiting pokémon's footprint!" responded Loudred. "Diglett's usually an outstanding sentry, so it's rare for him to be stumped by footprints!" He turned to Piplup and Chimchar. "If both of YOU did sentry duty yourselves, that'd be no shocker!"

Team Poképals seemed to get irritated by Loudred's remark, with Chimchar even more so.

"Hey, give that poor kid a break!" the fire monkey pokémon furiously yelled. "Although we may do a little better than him, Diglett too can sometimes get footprints all mixed up! What about when we first arrived at the guild?"

"Yeah, you guys couldn't even recognize my footprint," Piplup said, "but Diglett still tried his best to identify it!"

"...Say again?" Diglett said, as everyone else paid their attention to him now. "You want to meet our guildmaster? OK! I just need your name… Dusknoir?! Wait just a moment, I'll let you in!"

"D-Dusknoir?!" Chatot exclaimed.

"The world-famous Dusknoir?!" Loudred said.

Team Poképals looked at both of them, looking a little puzzled that they knew the pokémon.

* * *

Dusknoir came down and met Chatot and Wigglytuff. He was a ghost-type gripper pokémon that had a single red eye on his head, with a mostly silver body, and a stomach that had an imprinted face with yellow lines on it.

"What an honor for you to visit!" said Wigglytuff.

"No, no! Think nothing of it!" Dusknoir insisted. "The honor is all mine! There is no greater pleasure than visiting your guild! It's famous!"

Back of the crowd of the guild, Chimchar turned to Loudred.

"Excuse me, Loudred!"

"What is it?"

"Who's that visitor?"

Loudred, along with some of the guild members, turned to the fire monkey pokémon in shock.

"WHAT?! You haven't heard of Dusknoir, the famous explorer?!"

"N-no, I haven't heard of him!"

"That really isn't surprising after all," Sunflora insisted. "He's recently a new arrival to the Grass Continent! He came out of nowhere like a comet. He became famous almost during overnight! Everyone here says his talents as an explorer are superlative!"

"So is this Dusknoir really that amazing?" questioned Chimchar.

"Yeah!" Loudred answered. "Here's some more good stuff that I heard! He does things unlike anyone else! First, he doesn't work in a team, and only does all his exploring solo!"

"Alone?"

"That's right! He's gotta be pretty sure about his skills to do that! But what's even more incredible, is that he's got a whole array of knowledge! It seems like there's nothing in the world that he doesn't know about!"

"Wow! He's that knowledgeable?!"

"So the rumor says!" Sunflora insisted. "But he has indeed used his incredible knowledge to succeed on many explorations so far! Several pokémon revere Dusknoir for his achievements, so that's how I know that the claims about his mighty knowledge _must_ be true!"

"Does he visit here often?" questioned Chimchar.

"Nope, this is only his first time here!" Loudred answered. "That's why Diglett couldn't recognize him. I would have to think that the guildmaster just met him for the first time, too."

"Huh?! Then why is he being friendly?"

"Well, that's just how our guildmaster is, even if it's the first time he meets someone."

They turned back to Dusknoir, Wigglytuff, and Chatot, who just finished their conversation on the guild's recent expedition.

"...I see," Dusknoir said. "That must be quite a disappointment for your guild!"

"Yep," Wigglytuff replied, "that expedition turned out to be a waste of time! We didn't learn a thing!" He lied about the expedition to Dusknoir, but the guildmaster knew that he and his guild members would have to not tell anyone, including Dusknoir, about what really was within Fogbound Lake.

"I had heard that your guild was mounting an expedition to find Fogbound Lake. I had come here, hoping to hear about your latest triumph. Are you sure you learned something at least?"

"Nope! Nada~!"

"OK, it's no trouble at all, then! This won't deter me from continuing to visit you! I plan to stay around Treasure Town for a short while, so is it OK if I visit you occasionally during my stay? Your guild also receives news on a constant basis, and good information would be a big help on my explorations!"

"It's not a problem at all! Other exploration teams visit us all the time, so you're always welcome here!"

They turned around to the guild members.

"Everyone," Wigglytuff announced, "this is Dusknoir! He'll be staying in Treasure Town for a while, so make him feel at home here! He's very famous and knowledgeable, so I bet everyone will like to seek advice from him! Let's not overdo it though, as we may be a nuisance if that happens!"

"Now, everyone," Chatot said, "our guest here might be famous, but don't embarrass us by asking him for autographs!"

"No, no! If it's autographs you want," Dusknoir insisted, "I'm sure that I can oblige! As for information, though, I'm afraid I have very little of it at this time. However, I would be delighted if I may be of service to you. If there's anything you wish to ask of me, please don't hesitate to do so."

The guild members cheered and clapped for him.

"Yup yup! It's a great honor!"

"I'm so very glad to have met you!"

Chatot flapped his wings to get everyone's attention one more time.

"OK, everybody, you're dismissed!"

The members turned to each other to have conversations. Dusknoir, meanwhile, turned back to Wigglytuff.

"I'm going for a stroll in Treasure Town. Please feel free to approach me with anything. Good day!"

The ghost-type left up the ladder to go to Treasure Town. Chatot approached Team Poképals to remind them to resume their task of taking jobs from both the job and outlaw boards. They would do this for a few days in order to get closer to being upgraded to the Diamond Rank, one level higher than the Gold Rank.

* * *

Later on one night, Team Skull arrived near the entrance of Wigglytuff's Guild. They knew that after the attempted attack on the guildmaster, they were expelled from the guild.

"Ch-chief," Zubat nervously said, "we were really put in our place by Wigglytuff on that last expedition! Why are we back here?"

"I'm not letting it go!" Skuntank answered angrily. "It was so humiliating, I need payback, one way or another! I know that we don't stand a chance against Wigglytuff, but there must be some other way we can take revenge!"

"Yeah," Koffing said, "I like your thinking, chief!"

"I'd settle for picking on wimps that- hey!" Zubat said, getting an idea. "Speaking of wimps, we should get at Team Poképals!"

Skuntank turned to him.

"Chaw-haw! Great idea!"

"We know that they're wimpy!" Koffing said.

"Now boys, let's go do some plotting!"

They turned away from the entrance and left into the night.

* * *

The next morning after the usual cheers, Chatot went over to Team Poképals to say something.

"Before both of you get to work today," he said, "I'd like you to run an errand."

"An errand?" questioned Chimchar.

"Yes! Go to Kecleon Market, and ask the owners if they plan to stock perfect apples."

"Why?"

"The guildmaster often raids the storage when we're not looking and uses up our supply at an alarming rate. You know what will happen if he's deprived of those apples! It's always a chore to search for a fresh load of perfect apples, so sending an exploration team to Apple Woods when the apples run out is just too much work."

"So if the market starts stocking perfect apples, we could go buy 'em! OK then, we'll go over there!"

"Great! Way to take charge~!"

Team Poképals went out of the guild to go to the Kecleon Market in Treasure Town.

* * *

When they arrived to the market, they saw Dusknoir talking to the Kecleon brothers.

"Hey, that's Dusknoir!" exclaimed Piplup.

They went close to them, as Dusknoir turned to the team's leading pair.

"Hello there! If I'm not mistaken, both of you must be from the guild!"

"Yes! We're Team Poképals!" Piplup said. "Nice to meet you!"

"So what are you doing in town, Dusknoir sir?" Chimchar said. "Are you also shopping?"

"No, no, just simply enjoying a chat here!"

"I hailed him down!" the green kecleon said. "The great Dusknoir is very famous, that we had an interesting conversation. He told me that he's so worldly and wise! I'm very impressed!"

"I guess the rumors are true!" Chimchar said. "Dusknoir, sir, you must really be as knowledgeable as they say!"

"May I ask, Team Poképals," the green kecleon questioned, "what I can do for you? Have you come to shop today?"

"Sorry, but nope," Piplup answered. "We came to ask you something else today. You see, we need perfect apples for the guild! We wanted to wonder if you plan to stock any of 'em!"

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but we have no plans to stock them."

"Aww, man, that's too bad. Chatot will be disappointed with this news."

Just then, a couple of voices came toward the market.

"Hurry, Azurill!"

"Wait for me!"

Everyone turned to see that it was Marill and Azurill running towards them.

"It's the Marill and Azurill brothers!" the green kecleon exclaimed. "Hello to you both!"

"Hi, kecleon brothers!" Azurill greeted.

"Hi to you too, Team Poképals!" Marill said.

"What seems to be the rush?" questioned Chimchar.

"You know how we've been looking for our lost item?"

"Lost item? Do you mean the same one you were looking for before?"

"Yes! It's an item called a Water Float!"

"A Water Float?" Dusknoir said. "Now that's quite a precious item!"

"Indeed!" Marill said. "That's why we've been looking hard for it a long time."

"And then," Azurill said, "somebody said they saw the Water Float on the beach today!"

"We're going to the beach now so we can get it back!" Marill said.

Everyone at the market did not know that Team Skull, except for Skuntank, was standing at a small bridge over a thin river. They were watching the conversation.

"Heh-heh-heh!" Zubat laughed. "Quite a juicy tidbit!"

"This could be useful for our plan!" said Koffing, turning to his partner.

"We'll bring the chief up to date, then get the jump on them."

They left to inform their boss. As for those at the market, they were wrapping up their conversation.

"That's excellent!" Chimchar said to Azurill and Marill. "It's great that your Water Float finally turned up!"

"Yes, it's great!" the brothers said. They turned to each other.

"Come on, Azurill!" Marill said. "Let's go quickly!"

"Yep!"

They left the market to go find their lost item at the beach. Everyone there turned to see them go.

"I was wondering how those little brothers were doing with their item search," Chimchar said, as he turned to Piplup, "so that's good for them in that they found it."

"I've never heard of a Water Float," the green kecleon said. "What purpose does it serve?" Everybody turned to him.

"A Water Float is an item specifically for Azurill," answered Dusknoir. "It can only be obtained by trading precious treasures again and again, so as such, it's said to be an exceedingly rare item."

The green kecleon jumped up in amazement. "Gah! Is that so?! Our line of work is about buying and selling! But we have never heard of it. It must be exceedingly rare! I'm afraid that selling such a rare item like that may never come!"

"Selling the item- oh, wait!" Piplup exclaimed, as he turned to Chimchar. "I just remembered that we have to report back to Chatot about the perfect apples! Let's get back to the guild!"

Team Poképals left the market and went back to Wigglytuff's Guild.

* * *

Later back in the guild, the team discussed the perfect apple situation to Chatot.

"What?!" exclaimed Chatot. "They have no plans to stock perfect apples? Squawk! What am I supposed to do now?!"

"We could go get some for you at Apple Woods," insisted Chimchar.

Chatot flapped his wings in disapproval.

"What?! You're joking! You've previously gone there, only to fail utterly! I'm sorry, but after what happened, I just can't go through all of that again! I'll admit that both of you _were_ outstanding on our recent expedition, and that I recognize everything that you've done for us so far...but that incident with the guildmaster and the perfect apples was a traumatic experience for me! I'll just find those apples myself, even though I might hate doing it, but for now, both of you should just take your jobs from the boards above us as usual and complete them!"

Team Poképals had no choice but to nod in agreement.

* * *

The team went out of the guild and took their jobs. It was another routine day of completing jobs and recruiting pokémon to make Team Poképals grow larger. After today's success, they managed to go from Gold Rank to Diamond Rank, getting the last few exploration points to get the upgrade.

* * *

Later that night, everyone in the guild was beginning to eat their supper, but Chatot flapped his wings for attention before they did so.

"Hold on, everyone! Before we start dinner, there is something I must share with you."

The guild, feeling hungry, started to get impatient.

"Hey, hey, hey!"

"C'mon, out with it! Let us eat already!"

Chatot flapped his wings again to get the members' attention.

"Quiet, please!"

Everybody settled down to listen to him.

"I know all of you are hungry, but we just received word that another Time Gear was stolen!"

"WHAT?!" everyone exclaimed. They were in shock that another one of the Time Gears, used to keep time flowing, had been stolen!

"Another Time Gear?"

"ANOTHER one got stolen?!"

"Uh, is it...maybe...the one in Fogbound Lake?"

"No," answered Chatot, "it wasn't. The stolen Time Gear was _not_ from there. It was one from elsewhere. This, however, is the second Time Gear to be stolen. It would be extremely bad if a third one was to be taken. Now, rest assured that I have full confidence in all of you, but I must make one thing very clear...you must never tell anybody what you witnessed during our expedition! Understood?"

The guild angrily understood.

"Of course!"

"I don't have a big mouth!"

"Eeek! I'd never forget the promise we made to Uxie!"

Chatot too was starting to lose his patience. He flapped his wings once more.

"OK, OK! Quiet, everybody! I'm sorry to keep you waiting! Go ahead and eat, already!"

" **Finally!** " the guild cheered.

The members finally began eating their supper.

* * *

Later in Team Poképals' room, Chimchar talked to Piplup about what transpired before dinner.

"Just before we ate, Chatot said that another Time Gear was stolen."

"Yeah! That's two now! I just can't imagine who'd be stealing them! What would anyone want to do with those Time Gears anyway?"

"I'm with you, pal. I can't understand it at all..."

Chimchar turned away to try and understand the situation as best as he could. Piplup, meanwhile, thought to himself.

 _I can't understand it either...but when I was at Fogbound Lake and saw a Time Gear for the first time, I'm still wondering why my heart pounded so wildly when I saw one. I must be reading too much into this. My pulse just raced when I saw the Time Gear. Those other Gears being stolen should be of no concern...at least for now._

Chimchar turned back to his friend to continue their conversation.

"Ya know, when I think about it, Piplup, I get this feeling that our expedition to Fogbound Lake took place a long time ago. Wasn't the view fantastic?"

"Yeah, it was! It was almost like being in a dream!"

"But we still have to wonder if Uxie is doing fine, though..."

* * *

Meanwhile at Fogbound Lake, Uxie felt the presence of an unknown pokémon behind him. He turned to see who it was, but could not make out its appearance…

"I knew it. I knew I shouldn't have trusted them. As soon as the guild left, I knew another pokémon like you would come and steal the Time Gear here! I should have taken their memories when I had the chance..."

"I don't know exactly what you're talking about, but you're wrong. Nobody led me here, or told me about this place. I've known about the presence of a Time Gear here...for a long time. I have no quarrel with you, but I will take the third Time Gear with me!"

* * *

The next morning at Wigglytuff's Guild, Team Poképals was about to head out for the day, but was interrupted by Loudred, who said they had visitors at the guild's entrance. They went up there to see that it was Azurill and Marill waiting for them.

"Hi, Team Poképals!" greeted Azurill.

"Hello, little fellas!" Piplup happily greeted back.

"Are you guys the visitors we heard about?" questioned Chimchar.

"Yep!" answered Marill. "We wanted to ask you for your help."

"We need you to help us find our Water Float," Azurill said.

"Weren't you looking for it earlier?" questioned Piplup.

"Yep! Somebody said it was on the beach and we went to look for it there," Marill said with worry on his face, as he handed a piece of paper to Chimchar, "but _this_ is what we found instead..."

"This scrap of paper?" The fire monkey pokémon looked at it for a moment. "There's something written on it! I wonder what it says!" He examined the note for a few seconds, and began reading from it. "'The Water Float from the beach is now in our possession. Just try to take it from us! We'll wait in the deepest part of Amp Plains, but knowing how weak and puny you are...I bet you can't even reach us! Chaw-haw-haw!'" He realized something was rotten about the note. "Hey, this one's a ransom note!"

Everyone looked shocked at the note.

"OK, little guys," Piplup said with concern. "Promise the both of us that you won't go by yourselves. It could be a trap!"

"But our Water Float is very, _very_ important to us!" Marill insisted. "We really wanna get it back! You're right, though, I can't take Azurill to a dangerous place like Amp Plains."

"I said I would go!" Azurill said, turning to Marill.

"It's too much for you! I don't want you getting into any scary scrapes."

Marill turned back to Team Poképals. "I went to Amp Plains myself, but there were lots of electric-type pokémon that live there! I'm simply no match for them!" He had tears in his eyes. "I tried going there many times, but I always fail badly...I just c-can't stand how weak I am..."

"No problem!" Chimchar insisted. "I know what to do! We'll go get the Water Float back for you!"

"Really?!" Azurill responded.

"You will?!" Marill said.

"Yeah!" answered Piplup. "No more tears!"

"Thank you so much!" Marill exclaimed.

"You can count on us, little guys! We'll get that Water Float of yours back in no time! We promise!" The penguin pokémon turned to Chimchar. "Let's go, pal! We'll prepare our team, and then we're off to Amp Plains!"

The leaders of Team Poképals made their way into town to prepare for their trip to the Amp Plains. Since they upgraded to the Diamond Rank, not only was their item storage increased, but their bag capacity grew too. They had much more helpful items to carry in order to aid them in tight situations that they would find themselves in. Before they headed away from the vicinity of town and the guild, they rang the bell to summon Chimecho and called forth two specific members to help out in protecting Piplup, who was going to be weak against many electric-type pokémon within Amp Plains.

* * *

When Team Poképals got to the entrance of Amp Plains, the two leaders, Piplup and Chimchar, stopped and turned to each other for a quick conversation.

"I still can't imagine what sorta bullies would do something like this!" Chimchar said.

"Yeah!" Piplup furiously replied. "Threatening little kids like those brothers really stinks, and uncalled for! Let's get in and get their Water Float back!"

The leaders made their way in, with their two other companions following them.

* * *

As they were warned by Marill and Azurill, Amp Plains was filled with electric-type pokémon. Piplup knew that he was a type disadvantage here, so he would need to rely on Chimchar and their two other team members to protect him at all costs.

* * *

Meanwhile at Kecleon Market within Treasure Town, Marill and Azurill were discussing to the kecleon brothers how their Water Float was stolen.

"Ah, I see!" exclaimed the green kecleon. "That's what happened to your Water Float! What a mean thing to do! Good thing that Team Poképals is at Amp Plains to get it back right now!"

"Yep!" both Marill and Azurill said.

"Good for you! You can rest easy knowing that they're on the case!"

"That's true!" replied Marill. "They saved my little brother too. We're so grateful for their help!"

A voice came from afar.

"Good day to you all. Is something the matter?"

Everyone turned to see that Dusknoir came to them.

"Hello, Dusknoir sir!" the green kecleon greeted. "We've been talking about the brothers' lost item. Do you remember? We discussed about it here not long ago."

"Of course. I believe that you're referring to the Water Float? I seem to recall that you'd heard it was on the beach."

"Exactly! But now, there's more to the story..."

For a few moments, the green kecleon explained to Dusknoir what had taken place.

"I see," Dusknoir replied. "That _is_ terrible indeed. It is hard to imagine why anybody would do something so awful. It must take some pathetic thugs to stoop so low."

"I just couldn't agree more!" the green kecleon replied with anger. "To be so mean spirited to children, and to those so young as those brothers is utterly unforgivable!"

"One more question, where did Team Poképals go to get the Water Float back?"

"They went to Amp Plains," answered Marill.

"Pardon?" Dusknoir responded with alarm. "Did you say Amp Plains? At this time of year there, it's the season for… No! This is ruinous! Team Poképals could be in grave danger!"

" **What?!** " everyone exclaimed.

"I must leave for Amp Plains immediately!" Dusknoir said.

He floated out of Treasure Town to go to the Amp Plains to try and save Team Poképals!

* * *

Back at the Amp Plains, Team Poképals reached the clearing, in other words, the end of the challenging dungeon. The sky was dark with stormy clouds. Lightning flashed across the sky as a result.

The team looked around the clearing.

"What a menacing place!" Chimchar said to Piplup. A flash of lightning struck, frightening the fire monkey pokémon. "Ahh! This thunderstorm is incredible! It looks like lightning can strike this place anytime! We oughta get away from here as soon as we-" He looked at an item in front. "Hey! Look over there!"

The team turned to where the item was. It was a ring that had a blue gem implanted in front.

"That must be the Water Float!" Piplup insisted. "Let's get a closer look at it!"

Before the team could make its way over there, the light suddenly got dark! A voice could be heard…

"Why did you come here?! This is our territory!"

"There's somebody here!" Piplup said. "Let's hide, everyone!"

They hid behind a rock. The voice could only laugh out in disbelief.

"So all of you are going to hide like that? That's kind of cute… We'd actually be grateful if you kept doing that. We'll sneak quietly to get as close as we can...so we can take all of you out!"

"It's not working!" Chimchar said with fear. "If we stay here, we're goners!"

"Then we'll try to get them out here!" Piplup insisted. He and the team got away from the rock and stood in the middle of the clearing. "All right, you cowards! Show yourselves!"

"Fine, then!" the voice bellowed. "My name is Manectric! I am the leader of these electrike!"

Another flash of lightning struck. It was not only bright in the opening now, but several electric pokémon surrounded Team Poképals! They consisted of eight electrike, with Manectric as their leader!

"Prepare to battle us!" he said.

"All right, guys!" Piplup began to order his team, as he and his fellow members got into their battle stances. "Let's do this!"

" **YEAH!** " they cheered.

The battle was about to begin!

* * *

Team Poképals would have to pull out every trick in the book, and some of items in their bag, to outlast Manectric and his tribe of electrike. Using various seeds to power up themselves, and other seeds to throw at their enemies to deter them, they then used the moves that were in their system to bring down their electric-type foes!

* * *

After minutes of red-hot battling, the two opposing groups were beginning to tire out.

"You dare to defeat us?!" Manectric said.

"N-n-no!" Chimchar said, sweating with fatigue. "We honestly didn't come here to make claims on your territory!"

"Nonsense! Take _this!_ "

With his last bit of strength, he prepared to finish Team Poképals off with a burst of electric power! However, a pokémon got in front of them, and absorbed the attack to save the team!

"Enough! Their words are sincere!"

The team opened their eyes to see that it was Dusknoir who saved them!

"They may be trespassing, but they don't intend to claim your territory!"

"Dusknoir, it's you!" Piplup exclaimed.

Manectric and the electrike backed away from Dusknoir.

"You!" the discharge pokémon said. "Who are you?!"

"I am Dusknoir, the explorer! Manectric, you have every right to be angry, especially in light of what your tribe has suffered on these grounds! Your hostility toward any that trespass here is natural! This place here is your haven, where you can find solace! I understand that completely! On behalf of these unwitting trespassers, I offer the sincerest apology! They may have entered here unbidden, but they did so without malice! They mean no harm! We will leave you in peace as soon as our errand is complete! Please believe me, Manectric!"

The discharge pokémon gave it a thought. He responded for his judgment.

"You seem to know much about us, Dusknoir. You make the claim that they mean no harm. Very well, then. I will choose to believe your words, and will allow you some time now. I expect all of you to be gone by our return." He turned around to the electrike. "Come."

The electric-type tribe left the clearing. Chimchar sweat-dropped in relief.

"Phew, that was a close one, Dusknoir sir! Thanks! You saved us!" He had a face of wonder now. "But...who were they?"

"It was a group of electrike and their leader, Manectric. They are a nomadic tribe that always stays on the move. They roam in constant search of places hospitable to them, and Amp Plains here is often lashed by thunderstorms this time of year. They find it to their liking, so they dwell in these plains this time of year. But, tragically, they were once attacked by enemies here without warning. Thus, I understand that they suffered terrible injuries. Ever since, Manectric's group has been very sensitive about trespassers here. If anyone trespassed upon these grounds, well...they would strike first, for fear of being stricken! That, somehow, at one point, became a law among his group."

"Oh, I understand now," responded Chimchar. " _That's_ why they were very intent on attacking. It's no wonder they refused to hear our arguments." He had a light go on in his head. "Oh, I forgot something! I recall seeing the Water Float over there, so let's get it!"

Team Poképals and Dusknoir went to the Water Float at the back of the clearing. They stopped near it.

"Dusknoir, sir," Chimchar said, "is this it?"

"There's no mistaking it. That, without a doubt, is a Water Float."

"Really?! Awesome! We did it!" Chimchar turned to Piplup. "Let's return the item to Marill and his little brother right away!"

"Wait, pal!" The penguin pokémon then turned to Dusknoir. "There's something we don't understand, though. How did this Water Float end up here?"

"I would imagine that it was put there deliberately. Whoever did this knew that all of you would eventually get to this spot. The fact that Manectric protects his territory is well known. Someone around here expected a confrontation between you and him, so in other words...you were set up."

He turned around. "Wasn't that _your_ intention...you sneaking scoundrels?!"

"What?" both Piplup and Chimchar said, turning around as well.

"It's about time that all of you come out of hiding and show yourselves!" demanded Dusknoir.

"Chaw-haw-haw!" the voice laughed. "So you knew all along! No point in hiding, then!"

Three pokémon came out of hiding. It was Team Skull!

"It's those jerks!" Piplup exclaimed.

Team Skull laughed collectively.

"So all of you did it!" the penguin pokémon continued, with a furious tone.

"But why?" demanded Chimchar.

"Whoa-ho-ho!" Koffing laughed. "We were going to wait for you to get stomped by Manectric, then we were going to step in and mop up afterward!"

"But we didn't count on _this_ guy meddling!" Zubat said, referring to Dusknoir, who approached the antagonistic team.

"Shall we settle this?"

"Sure, if it was just Team Poképals, of course!" insisted Skuntank. "You can bet that we'd rough 'em up good! But with against the world-famous Dusknoir? Now _that's_ a different story! Let's skedaddle, boys!"

"Yeah!" Koffing and Zubat agreed.

Team Skull turned around quickly and made a beeline away from everyone.

"Man, what total jerks and cowards they are!" bellowed Piplup. "I'm never forgiving 'em!"

"They certainly are quick when it comes to 'skedaddling'," Dusknoir replied. "I'm afraid our effort would be wasted if we were to give chase now, so let's take the Water Float back to the young brothers."

They all turned around to the Water Float to pick it up, and they turned around again to leave Amp Plains.

* * *

Later, back at Treasure Town near the Kecleon Market, Team Poképals, now only with the leaders, along with Dusknoir, gave the Water Float back to Marill and Azurill.

"Yay! We got our Water Float back! Thank you! Really!" Azurill exclaimed.

"You saved Azurill way back when, and now this!" Marill said, with tears of joy about to pour from his eyes. "I don't know how we could ever thank you, but the only way right now is by saying thank you!"

"Awww!" Piplup replied with a wide smile. "It's all OK, now! If you want to thank anyone, thank the great Dusknoir here! If he hadn't been there, we wouldn't be here now!"

The two little brothers went over to him to give their thanks.

"Thank you very much!" Marill said.

"Thank you, Dusknoir sir!" Azurill said.

"No trouble at all," the gripper pokémon said. "I'm very happy for you. It's wonderful that your Water Float has come back to you."

"I must say," the green kecleon said, "it is so like you to be so modest!" He turned to Team Poképals. "I also must say that you, Team Poképals, have also been superb! After all, both of you again completed a demanding job! When rescuing Azurill, you were quick to pinpoint the child's whereabouts, and quick at reaching him, too!"

Piplup and Chimchar, along with everyone else, turned to the green kecleon.

"Oh, about the Azurill rescue," began Chimchar, "we have to admit something. It would be great if it truly happened the way you said, but that's not really the truth. We didn't pin down Azurill's location before we rescued him. Piplup here just happened to see it in a vision."

Dusknoir was astounded by the revelation that he just discovered himself.

"Excuse me? A vision, you say? What do you mean by that?"

Team Poképals turned to Dusknoir.

"Maybe you'll know what it all means!" Piplup insisted. "You see, I occasionally get strange dizzy spells when I touch something or someone, then I see or hear events that happen either in the past, or the future!"

"What?!" Dusknoir exclaimed. "Well, that's...the Dimensional Scream!"

" **WHAT?!** " Both Piplup and Chimchar said, amazed.

"Dusknoir, sir," Chimchar began, "you really know something about this?!"

"If that's so," Piplup said, "we gotta ask you if you know even more! Particularly about my own forgotten past!" He and Chimchar turned to the long path leading out of town. "Come with us, and you'll see what I mean!"

Dusknoir followed Team Poképals out of the town.

* * *

Moments later, they were at the beach, right near the spot where Piplup was first found by Chimchar unconscious.

"I see..." Dusknoir said. "You found Piplup, our friend here, unconscious right _here_."

"Yep," Piplup answered. "I was exactly right here."

"You regained consciousness then, right?" questioned Dusknoir.

The penguin pokémon nodded in agreement.

"But you lost your memory."

"Yeah, along with the memory of my real name, but my memory of being a human still remained before I became a pokémon!"

"I beg your pardon?!" Dusknoir was shocked at what Piplup said. "H-human?!" He took a moment to process this information. "But you seem to be a pokémon in every obvious way!"

"I guess this is beyond your understanding," Chimchar said.

"But we're certain that something caused my memory loss," Piplup said, "and my transformation from a human to a pokémon!"

"A human, like you," Dusknoir replied, "with the Dimensional Scream ability...now that's hard to fathom. You also said you don't know your real name?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I still don't know it now, either..."

"Does Piplup not knowing his true name mean anything to you, Dusknoir, sir?" Chimchar said.

Dusknoir attempted to give it a thorough thought.

"...No." He seemed to bear a faint smile. "It means nothing to me, unfortunately."

Piplup noticed Dusknoir's small smile.

 _Huh?! Did Dusknoir just hide the faintest of smiles, or did I imagine that...?_

"I'm very sorry I couldn't help you with that..." Dusknoir said. "However, I do know about the ability that you, Piplup, possess. You possess the ability to see the future or past by touching something, known as the Dimensional Scream."

"Dimensional...Scream?" the penguin pokémon questioned.

"Indeed. How such an ability is learned is unknown. But sounds and images slice across the boundaries of time, breaching objects and reaching into pokémon...to manifest as visions. That is all that I know about the extraordinary ability."

"So I have an ability as special as the Dimensional Scream...hmmm..."

Dusknoir shook his head.

"Well, perhaps this is why we became friends, to help unravel the secret of your transformation into a pokémon! I will offer all of you my full cooperation!"

"Really?!" Chimchar said.

"Yes," answered Dusknoir. "To be perfectly candid, I can't stand knowing that there's something I don't know! Quite honestly, that is the full truth of it!" He laughed for a bit.

"It's thrilling to know that we have your help, Dusknoir sir!" Chimchar happily replied. He turned to his best friend. "Isn't this great, Piplup?"

The penguin pokémon nodded.

All of a sudden, a flock of pelipper flew over Team Poképals and Dusknoir. They took notice.

"Hey!" Chimchar said. "Look at all the pelipper! There appears to be a lot more in the air than usual..."

"Could something be the matter?" questioned Dusknoir.

"Hey!" a voice said.

The three pokémon turned to see that it was Bidoof. He rushed over towards them.

"Hi, Bidoof!" greeted Chimchar.

"I f-finally...f-found you all." He seemed to be out of breath.

"What's the rush? You're all outta breath!"

"The call's been put out! All the apprentices are to report to the guild immediately!"

Piplup turned to Chimchar and Dusknoir.

"Uh oh! Something must be up! Let's get to the guild, quickly!"

Everybody nodded in agreement and followed him.

It indeed appeared that something very terrible had happened...


	11. Grovyle the Thief

_Recommended music for these segments..._

 _Briefing Team Poképals on the Northern Desert - LRSSG Briefing II (Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown)_

 _Exploring Northern Desert - Whiskey Corridor (Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies)_

 _I'm Not Quite Ready To Go Back Yet! - It Is What It Is (Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon)_

 _Debriefing an Unsuccessful Search - IUN Debriefing (Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown)_

 _Exploring Quicksand Cave - Desert Lightning (Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War)_

 _Team Poképals' Unwilling Battle,_ _The Thief Reveals Himself, Time Is Stopping! - Tail Man (Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown)_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 11**_

 _ **Grovyle the Thief**_

Team Poképals, Dusknoir and Bidoof arrived in the guild's board floor. They turned to their left to see everyone talking about who was on the outlaw board. They went to the crowd.

"Sorry we're late, everybody!" Chimchar announced to the crowd, earning their attention. "We got here as fast as we could once we got the call! What seems to be going on here?"

"Another Time Gear was stolen!" Chatot said with worry.

"What?!" Bidoof exclaimed. "Not another one!"

"Where was this Gear stolen from?" Piplup said.

"W-well, it..." Chatot began, who appeared to be afraid to reveal where the next Time Gear was stolen from.

"Was it somewhere you didn't want to talk about?" Bidoof said.

"Wait!" Chimchar exclaimed. "It can't be the one from..."

"Yes, it was!" Sunflora answered. "This time...the Time Gear from Fogbound Lake was stolen!"

" **WHAT?!** " Team Poképals and Bidoof exclaimed in shock and disbelief.

"B-but how?!" demanded Chimchar. "We only knew about the Time Gear that was at that lake, right? How could this have happened?! It couldn't be...that a member of the guild spilled the beans, could it?!"

A few of the guild members got angry over his assumption.

"WHAT?! That was uncalled for!"

"Hey, hey, HEY! Don't you trust your fellow members?!"

Chimchar sweat-dropped, realizing his mistake.

"S-sorry! All of you are right, that _was_ uncalled for… Nobody would dare break our vow of secrecy! It'd just never happen! I should have thought before I spoke...I'm sorry!"

"Well," Sunflora spoke up, "it's no wonder that you'd leap to that conclusion! I mean, this horrible thing _did_ happen right after our expedition."

"Just one moment!" Dusknoir announced. "I'm afraid I don't quite understand most of this! There was a Time Gear at Fogbound Lake? I did not know that! I seem to recall that all of you told me a completely different tale about your recent expedition! From what I heard, it ended in failure!"

"I must apologize, great Dusknoir," Wigglytuff said with a sad look. "We made a promise to tell no one else in town, not even you."

"Anyway," Chatot said, "a lone intruder slipped into Fogbound Lake, knocked out Uxie, and made off with the Time Gear."

"Oh no!" Piplup exclaimed in shock. "Is Uxie alright?!"

"Yes, he's fine."

"He's under the protection of Magnezone and his fellow officers," Wigglytuff inserted. "No need to worry."

"Phew! I'm relieved to hear that!" Piplup replied.

"There's more!" Chatot said. "According to Uxie's victim statement, the intruder's identity has been revealed!" He pointed to the outlaw board. "See the wanted poster for the thief _here._ "

Everyone looked toward the poster on the board. The thieving pokémon had a red stomach, with a mostly green body, and a long leaf implanted on his head.

"The pokémon here goes by the name of Grovyle," Chimchar said, examining the description.

"Now that's one nasty piece of work!" Bidoof exclaimed.

 _So that's Grovyle, huh?_ Piplup wondered. _He must be the one stealing the Time Gears…_

"This wanted poster here just arrived," Chatot said. "It was issued based on Uxie's statement alone. It arrived as part of an all-points bulletin."

"That's why all those pelipper were flying around at the beach!" Bidoof exclaimed.

"Officer Magnezone obviously does not want to see things worsen, so he and his squad have put a remarkably high bounty on Grovyle."

"We promised Uxie not to reveal the secret of Fogbound Lake," Chimchar said with a sad look, "but then _this_ happens..."

"We didn't leak the secret," Sunflora said, "but even so, I'm ashamed to show my face in front of him right now!"

"Hey, hey! Here's what sticks in my craw," Corphish inserted, "the view over at the lake has been ruined! I just can't forgive that!"

Wigglytuff looked as though he was beginning to cry, as everyone turned to him in alarm.

"Hey, guildmaster!" Chimecho said. "What's wrong?"

"G-g-guildmaster?!" responded Chatot.

Wigglytuff's crying seemed to intensify, shaking the room for a bit, but he suddenly broke it up!

"YOOM...TAH!"

A few guild members seemed a little shaken by the outburst, as the guildmaster looked around for a bit, before announcing the following statement with a rare serious look.

"Everybody, we're catching Grovyle! We'll catch that thief, no matter what! I vow it upon the name of my guild!" He turned to Chatot. "Chatot, if you will!"

"Y-yes!" He turned to the rest of the guild. "All right, everyone! From here on out, we are putting our full focus on capturing Grovyle! Do your best to bring him to justice!"

The guild agreed.

"It goes without saying!"

"There's no way we can let any more Time Gears be stolen!"

"C'mon, everybody! Let's pull together and do it for Uxie!"

"Wigglytuff," Dusknoir said, making everyone turn to him, "I believe I understand the situation now. I will join in your guild's pursuit of Grovyle."

"Thanks, great Dusknoir!" exclaimed the guildmaster.

His fellow guild members couldn't be happier.

"Golly! Having the great Dusknoir at our side is mighty heartening!"

"Hey, hey, we're honored!"

"No, no! It's my honor entirely," Dusknoir insisted.

Chatot turned to the members.

"At present, the guildmaster and I shall confer!" Everyone turned to the parrot pokémon. "We will devise a strategy for finding Grovyle, but in the meantime, all of you should start preparing to go on searches! Return here when you're ready to leave. Now, let's go and outdo ourselves~!"

" **HOORAY!** " the guild cheered.

Everyone, including Team Poképals, but not Wigglytuff, Chatot, and Chimecho, went out of the guild to go to Treasure Town so that they could prepare for the big search for Grovyle.

* * *

Piplup and Chimchar had their team's bag space increased once more in time for the search of Grovyle and the attempt to capture him. The leaders of Team Poképals would have to take their time preparing well for the search, for when they cornered Grovyle, he would surely be extremely tough than an average outlaw pokémon.

* * *

Moments later, Team Poképals and the other guild members arrived back at the guild to be briefed once more by Chatot for the search procedure.

"First and foremost," he began, "it goes without saying that Grovyle appears wherever Time Gears are located. But where exactly are they? That is the question we have no answer to, and therefore, we have relied upon the great Dusknoir for ideas. Together, we've identified several locations on where the Time Gears may be found. We ask that everyone splits into groups and investigate each of these potential sites."

Chatot began announcing what members would be in specified groups. He put Loudred and Corphish in the first group to be assigned to the Eastern Forest, a huge forest located far to the east. The next group consisted of Bidoof, Dugtrio, and Sunflora; all of whom that would search Crystal Cave. Then, came Team Poképals of Piplup and Chimchar.

"Both of you are assigned to the Northern Desert," Chatot said. "Open your Wonder Map so I'll show you the location."

Team Poképals did as they were instructed. The parrot pokémon pointed to where the Northern Desert was, laying within a land of desert near a drawing of a brown rock. Clouds nearly obscured its location.

" _This_ is the area where the Northern Desert is located. It is obscured by clouds on the map almost completely, but the dry terrain starts in this area _here_. That's why it's rumored that a vast desert extends from that point onward. We suspect that a Time Gear is hidden in the depths of the desert, and that is where we are sending you to investigate."

"OK! Understood!" Piplup said, as he put his team's map back into their bag.

"What about me?" questioned Diglett. Chatot turned to him.

"You will remain at the guild. After all, we can't leave the guild completely unaccounted for."

"Croagunk and I are staying behind the guild too," Chimecho said. "The work we do here is also important."

With that said, everybody turned to the front to Wigglytuff.

"Now let's find those Time Gears!" he announced with a serious face. "YOOM...TAH!"

" **YEAH!** " cheered the guild.

The members went their separate ways, except for Team Poképals, whom turned to Dusknoir to be briefed by him.

"The Northern Desert is not only wide and deep, it is raked by vicious sandstorms. I want both of you to take extra care!"

"Not a problem!" Piplup insisted.

"Thanks!" Chimchar responded.

The two pals turned to each other.

"Chimchar, let's do our best as always!"

"That's the spirit!"

They made their way out of the guild afterwards. Before they headed to the Northern Desert, they rang the bell near a water well to summon Chimecho to get two other recruited teammates to go to the desert with them.

* * *

Team Poképals later arrived at Northern Desert, beginning with its dungeon. The dungeon itself held 15 floors of ground-type pokémon, which Chimchar was weak to, so he had his pal Piplup and their two other teammates protect him in order to get to the end of the dungeon.

* * *

When they arrived at the end of Northern Desert's dungeon, the leaders of Team Poképals told their teammates to return home, and commended them for a great job getting them through. Piplup and Chimchar alone went toward the area where it was loaded with quicksand pits. There was one particularity big quicksand pit that was larger than any of the others here. It was right in front of the team. They had to be careful not to get too close in order not to get pulled in.

"I don't see anything around here that remotely looks like a Time Gear!" Chimchar said. He turned to Piplup. "I'm afraid there's nothing here."

The penguin pokémon appeared to be lost in thought, wondering about the big quicksand pit.

"What's the matter, Piplup?" questioned Chimchar.

"For some reason," he began, turning to the fire monkey, "this feeling that I have now is like the one I got back at Fogbound Lake. I might know this place too! Maybe I've only heard of it, but it feels like I've been here before somehow! I can't tell which is true, but either way, I _do_ know this place!"

Chimchar seemed to be bewildered at Piplup's assumptions.

"Are you sure? It just sounds like this desert heat is taking a toll on you! There's clearly _nothing_ here! Now let's get home to the guild and report our findings before a sandstorm comes!"

Piplup, however, didn't _quite_ seem ready to go back yet, as Chimchar approached him.

"C'mon now, pal! Off we go!" Chimchar said, anxious to get back as he turned Piplup around and pushed him forward!

"W-what the heck?!" the penguin pokémon exclaimed. He comically waved his flippers around, trying to break free. "What're you doin'?! I know that there's _something_ here! Let me go, I wanna stay here!"

Try as he could, his protests fell on deaf ears as Team Poképals left the Northern Desert.

* * *

Later back at Wigglytuff's guild, Team Poképals learned that the other search groups had also been unsuccessful in finding the Time Gears.

"What?!" exclaimed Chimchar to Chatot. The guild members turned to him. "Everybody's back from their searches, but no one found anything?"

The members agreed.

"I know. It's disappointing."

"That's what happened, all right!"

"Hey, hey, we went out to the Eastern Forest, just like were told, but we still couldn't find anythin'! Turns out there's nothin' there but the forest itself!"

"But as for Crystal Cave, yup yup, it was chock-full of crystals! It's a mighty pretty cave, I tell ya! It was so pretty that I couldn't help myself by getting a crystal."

The members turned to Bidoof, who said that last statement, and had a crystal on top of him. They looked to be bewildered.

"Ooh! When did you pick that up?" Sunflora said. "I was with you the whole time, but I never noticed!"

"Bidoof," Dugtrio said with anger seething in him, "our objective was to find a Time Gear, you idiot! We all failed to achieve our objective, yet you had the nerve to collect a souvenir which was totally unrelated to the mission?!"

"Oops! I'm mighty sorry! I just wanted a tiny treasure for myself, that's all!"

Chatot turned to Dusknoir.

"Dusknoir, sir, I regret to say it, but our search efforts have ended fruitlessly."

"Ah, this is quite vexing indeed. I thought that those search locations we chose would hold lots of promise. I blame my lack of knowledge, and am truly chastened by the result."

Chatot flapped his wings.

"My goodness, no! You mustn't blame yourself! Why, it was thanks only to your vast knowledge that we came up with our plan, Dusknoir!"

"Nevertheless, our efforts ended in failure. _That_ is a fact. Being hard on ourselves, however, is pointless. Let us reconsider our plan tonight so that we can devise a different strategy for tomorrow."

Chatot was happy by Dusknoir's words of enouragement.

"Yes, let's do that!" he happily replied. "We can still find success together!" He turned back to the guild. "That's how it stands, everybody! That's enough work for today! Rest up and prepare for tomorrow!"

" **UNDERSTOOD!** " the guild cheered.

* * *

Later that night in Team Poképals' room…

"Boy, Piplup," Chimchar said, "it seems like nobody else found any clues of where those Time Gears might be."

"Yeah," the penguin pokémon replied with a sad look, "it's disheartening."

"By the way," Chimchar began with a smile of embarrassment on his face, putting one hand on his head, "I'm sorry that I forced you out of the desert back there. I should've listened to you when you said that you knew that place somehow. If it helps, can we go back to those quicksand pits in the Northern Desert tomorrow to look harder? That is, if Chatot allows us to."

"No problem!" Piplup happily replied. "And I accept your apology, too! That's what pals are for, right?"

"Right!"

The two fist-bumped each other in approval.

* * *

The next morning, Chatot briefed the guild that he and Dusknoir were still working on developing a new strategy on finding the Time Gears. While that happened, the music note head shaped parrot pokémon instructed the members to search for the Time Gears on their own initiative. This meant that Team Poképals could indeed head back to the quicksand pit area at the end of the Northern Desert. They took two other available teammates from the Chimecho Assembly before they headed back to the desert.

* * *

Team Poképals arrived back at the quicksand pit area in the Northern Desert. It was still the same as it was before, with no obvious, clear clue laying within the area itself. Piplup could still feel that _something_ was hidden within that big quicksand pit in front of him and his team.

 _I think I got it! There might be a key to this mystery! There may be a way forward with this giant quicksand pit!_

He turned to Chimchar. "Hey, buddy!" The fire monkey turned to him. "We should try jumping into that big quicksand pit in front of us! There might be a way forward, after all!"

Chimchar was shocked at this daring request!

"W-WHAT?! Are ya serious, Piplup?! You're seriously suggesting that we should jump in there?!"

"Yeah, trust me!"

Chimchar gave it a careful thought.

"OK," he began to answer, "I trust you, pal! I have faith in you, after all, and it's all thanks to you that I've come so far!"

"And remember during our first exploration of Waterfall Cave? I told you to be brave then, so that we could get into the cave itself without being pummeled! It's just like I said then...be brave! Be the bravest like none other!"

"You're right! I just need to be brave again, so that we can get through another treacherous situation like this here! Let's jump into that big quicksand pit, and hope for the best!"

All of Team Poképals backed up and got ready to jump into the giant quicksand pit.

"Are you ready, everybody?!" Piplup said.

They nodded. Piplup then counted down so that he and the team could jump into the pit as simultaneously as possible.

"Three...two...one...GO!"

Everyone jumped into the pit! They cried out their own cheer!

"GERONIMO!"

"Whooooaaa!"

"YAHOO!"

"Weeeeee!"

They landed and closed their eyes so they could submerge as calm as possible.

* * *

Underneath the surface, Team Poképals landed hard on a patch of sand. They shook off the pain and got back up. They looked around to see where they were.

"We fell through from up here," Chimchar said, looking up with the rest of the team to see a line of sand falling from where they jumped in, "so that must mean we're in a cave!" He turned to Piplup. "You were right, Piplup! There _was_ a secret swirled within the quicksand!"

The penguin pokémon turned to the rest of the team. He bore a serious look on his face.

"All right, gang! It's time to go exploring!"

" **YEAH!** "

They went into the newfound dungeon, aptly named Quicksand Cave.

* * *

The dungeon of Quicksand Cave had 20 floors of ground-type pokémon, just like within the Northern Desert dungeon. Chimchar, again, would need extra support from his teammates.

* * *

Before they reached the 21st floor, the leaders of Team Poképals told their two teammates to teleport back to the surface of the desert outside, as they had important matters to deal with themselves. When Piplup and Chimchar resumed alone, they reached the underground lake. They were amazed by the sight.

"Oh boy!" Chimchar exclaimed. "I didn't expect to see this huge lake sprawling underground! What an amazing sight!" He was further amazed by the bright light ahead. "Look! Something's glowing way over there!"

"I recognize that light!" Piplup replied. "We saw it before at Fogbound Lake! That can only mean one thing..."

They turned to each other.

" **A Time Gear is here!** " they both exclaimed.

Piplup and Chimchar tried to get a closer look at the light to see if was a Time Gear, but the area went dark!

"Who might both of you be?!" a voice said.

"Who's that?" Chimchar said.

"Why did you come here?!"

"We just came to look for a Time Gear!"

"Stay away from it! If you won't leave, I'll force you to!"

A pokémon emerged from the lake's water. It was similar to Uxie, in that it had a similar body structure, but had a pink head and a red gem implanted on its forehead. The light returned to the lake.

"Who are you?!" demanded Chimchar.

"I'm Mesprit! I protect the Time Gear here at Underground Lake! I will not allow you to disturb it! Prepare to defend yourselves!"

Team Poképals had no choice but to get into their battle stances and battle Mesprit!

* * *

Since Mesprit happened to be a psychic-type pokémon, Piplup and Chimchar did not hold any advantage against her, but they weren't weak to her, either. They could not take this for granted however, as she would do her best to defend the Time Gear, even though Team Poképals had no intention on taking it. They would have to give it their all, just like the previous bosses that they fought before in the past.

* * *

Piplup and Chimchar managed to defeat Mesprit after a couple of minutes. The emotion pokémon struggled to stay floating.

"I still...won't let you take the Time Gear..." she said weakly.

"Please, listen to us!" Piplup demanded. "We honestly didn't come here to steal your Time Gear!"

"Don't lie to me! Uxie used his telepathy to tell me what happened! I know that the Time Gear from Fogbound Lake was stolen!"

"You heard it from him?!" Chimchar said.

"Yes, and I want to know if it's your doing!" demanded Mesprit.

"No! We didn't do it!"

"Then who's responsible?!"

"That would probably be...me," a voice said.

Team Poképals turned around to see who it was…

"Who are you?!" Mesprit questioned the awfully familiar pokémon from the guild's most wanted poster.

" **It's Grovyle!** " Piplup and Chimchar answered the million poké question. It was without a doubt Grovyle, the Time Gear thief that was wanted!

"I must apologize," he said, "but I will be taking that Time Gear."

The wood gecko pokémon forced past Team Poképals without any effort, as Piplup and Chimchar were knocked a few feet back! Mesprit still stood in Grovyle's way.

"Stand aside!" the grass-type demanded.

"I won't!" Mesprit said. "I will _not_ let you take the Time Gear!"

"Then you leave me no choice..."

Grovyle battered Mesprit out of the way! Piplup and Chimchar were shocked at this action.

"You lost that battle," the wood gecko said, "therefore you should have just moved out of the way like I told you to."

Just as Grovyle got near the water, Team Poképals got in his way and stopped him!

"You're not getting by us!" Piplup said with determination.

"Yeah, we won't let you take the Time Gear!" Chimchar said.

"Then I must force my way through again!" Grovyle replied.

He used both of his arms to force Team Poképals aside again! Piplup and Chimchar were in pain, due to the overwhelming power of Grovyle.

"Forgive me, but I have no quarrel with any of you. I must take that Time Gear!"

He jumped into the water to swim towards the Time Gear and take it. Team Poképals was helpless to do anything about it.

"He's...taking the Time Gear..." Piplup weakly said.

"I'm sorry for not believing you both," Mesprit said. "Uxie must not have been talking about you. It was Grovyle all along! I must apologize for doubting you."

A burst of energy came from where the Time Gear was!

"This is bad!" Mesprit exclaimed, as she and Team Poképals got up as quick as they could. "We must get out of here!"

"Why?" both Piplup and Chimchar demanded.

"Look!"

Everyone turned to the lake, where they saw the lake and the water starting to turn into a grayish color! The area shook as well!

"All of this is happening because Grovyle took that Time Gear!" yelled Mesprit. "Time in this whole area of Underground Lake will stop! If we don't escape here, we'll be trapped in time!"

"OK!" Piplup loudly replied. "Get close to us! We'll teleport out of here!"

Mesprit got close to Team Poképals as they held up their exploration team badges to quickly warp out of the lake, and back up to the desert surface!


	12. The Only Option

_Music recommended to listen to for the following segments..._

 _Learning About the Dimensional Scream - I Saw Something Again... (PMD: Explorers Games)_

 _Let's Go to the Crystal Cave! - Wigglytuff's Guild Theme (PMD: Explorers Games)_

 _Exploring Crystal Cave - Crystal Cave (PMD: Explorers Games)_

 _A Dead End? - In the Depths of the Pit (PMD: Explorers Games)_

 _Figuring Out the Puzzle, Race to Crystal Lake, Azelf in Danger!, Fighting The Impossible Battle - Nurburgring (Rush 2013 film)_

 _Refusing to Give Up, Revelation, Collapse, Calling For Help - Inferno (Rush 2013 film)_

 _Relieved to be Fine! - At The End of the Day (PMD: Explorers Games)_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 12**_

 _ **The Only Option**_

After the close call at Quicksand Cave's Underground Lake, Team Poképals was back at the guild, along with the rest of the members. In front of everyone was Magnezone, along with his fellow magnemite officers. They took Mesprit to Treasure Town so she could get healed, before they arrived here. The police wanted to brief the guild on the latest Time Gear thief news, and of course, gather information on it.

"Thank you for helping with our criminal investigation!" Magnezone said. "We have Mesprit under our protection, so her safety is assured. We are dedicating all resources to the pursuit of Grovyle! If you come across any information related to this case, please let us know immediately! We must all cooperate to bring this criminal to justice! That is it for our briefing today. Now please excuse us!"

The two magnemite officers followed their leader out of the guild. Chatot flapped his wings while he turned to the guild members.

"My, my! I'm absolutely astonished! There was a lake deep under the Northern Desert?! And, on top of that, a Time Gear was also down there?!"

"Yeah," Piplup answered with a said look, with the guild looking to him and Chimchar, "but about that Time Gear...Grovyle stole it. We even failed to capture him. That's like doing nothing helpful at all in the end!"

"That's not true, by golly!" Bidoof insisted. "You all did great work!"

"Hey, hey! I think so too!" Corphish said. "You, Team Poképals, should be really proud of yourselves! But it's still a shame we didn't catch Grovyle. There's no clue as to what we can do to him next! If only we had one tiny hint..."

"I must agree," Dugtrio said. "where will he strike next? That, we have no answer to."

"It's too bad that the opportunity to catch him slipped away!" said Sunflora. "We're right back to square one!"

"Maybe not," Dusknoir said, as everyone turned to him. "Not necessarily. There are still some clues left. One Time Gear was at Fogbound Lake, which was guarded by Uxie, right? Another one was at the Underground Lake, which was guarded by Mesprit."

"Hey, that reminds me!" Piplup exclaimed. "Mesprit told us something interesting! She knew that the Time Gear from Fogbound Lake was stolen! Uxie alerted her by telepathy!"

The members were astounded by the discovery.

"Incredible!"

"Now that IS really something!"

"I should have known," Dusknoir said, as everybody turned to him again. "There is an ancient legend… It is believed that Uxie is the Being of Knowledge, and that Mesprit is the Being of Emotion. But there is another pokémon that forms three in total who represent the spiritual world...and are said to keep the world in balance."

"There's a third one?" questioned Chimchar. "There's another pokémon like Uxie and Mesprit?"

"Yes. The last of trio is Azelf, known as the Being of Willpower. If Uxie and Mesprit both guard Time Gears, it should be no surprise that Azelf may likewise be protecting a Time Gear as well."

"I see!" Chimecho responded. "If we locate Azelf, we may find a Time Gear too! That's when we might have a chance to see the thieving Grovyle appear!"

"That is correct," Dusknoir replied. "Those three pokémon, Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf, are said to dwell within lakes. It is a fact that both Uxie and Mesprit were encountered at those lakes, and as such, I believe that Azelf will also be found at a lake somewhere. Let us keep something in mind that Uxie's lake was located on a high plateau, and Mesprit's lake was hidden far beneath a desert. In both of those cases, the lakes themselves were in unusual places. Thus, the lake where Azelf lives...will be somewhere that we least expect it to be."

"I get it NOW!" Loudred said. "You're saying we shouldn't look for water in the usual places!"

"My, my, my~!" Chatot happily said, turning to Dusknoir. "I must commend you on your wisdom, Dusknoir, sir! I feel renewed admiration for you~!"

"Thanks, but it's really nothing."

The guild turned to him.

"No, no!" Dugtrio insisted. "We, too, revere you! First it was you, Dusknoir, sir, who directed us to the Northern Desert, where it turned out that there was a Time Gear far below it. Thus, your insight was entirely correct."

"So maybe the other places we searched," Sunflora said, "the Eastern Forest and Crystal Cave that is, could still be hiding their secrets from us!"

"That gives me an idea!" Dusknoir said, as a light bulb went on in his head. He turned to one particular pokémon. "Bidoof!"

"Yup yup! What is it?" He turned to Dusknoir. "What can I do for you?"

"I have a request. Can I quickly borrow your crystal that you picked up previously?"

"My crystal?! N-no sirree! That treasure is precious to me!"

"Don't worry, we won't take it away, or do anything of the sort." Dusknoir turned to Team Poképals. "Piplup..."

"Who, me?" responded the penguin pokémon, as he turned to the gripper pokémon. The guild members, meanwhile, turned to Piplup.

"Yes. There is something I would like you to do. Please touch Bidoof's crystal."

"You want _me_ to touch his crystal?"

"Indeed. If a secret remains hidden in Crystal Cave, you will reveal it by touching the crystal here in an attempt to trigger your Dimensional Scream, in other words, trigger a vision!"

"Oh, I get it! That's what this is about!"

"Wait a minute! Dimensional Scream?" Loudred said. "What's THAT?"

Piplup turned to him.

"It's a special ability that I have. Sometimes, when I touch something, I have a vision of an event of the past or future that involves it."

The members were amazed by the description of his out-of-this-world ability!

"Oh my gosh! Really?"

"Hey, hey, hey! There's really an ability like that?"

"I desperately wish to borrow the crystal because of Piplup's ability," Dusknoir announced to the crowd. He turned to Bidoof. "Now, may we?"

Bidoof turned to the crowd, who had serious looks on their faces. "Oh, OK! I can't refuse a reason like that!"

He went over to Piplup to give the crystal to him.

"Thanks, Bidoof!"

Everyone turned to the penguin pokémon.

 _All right,_ he thought, _now that I have the crystal in my hand, what will it reveal? Everybody's watching me and hoping for the best, so I can't let 'em down! I must concentrate…_

He held the crystal for a few moments.

"Well, Piplup?" Chimchar said after a while. "Anything happening yet?"

Suddenly, just at the right time, the dizzying sensation came back to Piplup!

 _Yes! Here it comes!_

A vision came into his head.

* * *

 _This time, Piplup saw two pokémon within an icy environment. One was Grovyle, the other was with a blue head, and a body similar to both Uxie and Mesprit._

" _Ugh...urgh..." the pokémon said with a male voice, shaking in fear._

" _I must take that Time Gear now!" Grovyle said. He went around the unknown but visible pokémon._

" _No…you can't take it...never..."_

 _The vision came to an end._

* * *

 _Oh no!_ Piplup thought with a look of panic on his head. _I just saw Grovyle trying to steal a Time Gear! There was also another pokémon who looked just like Uxie and Mesprit! Could it be Azelf?_

"What did you see, pal?" Chimchar said, snapping Piplup out of his thoughts.

The penguin pokémon turned to the crowd to get their attention.

"Everyone, I saw Grovyle getting past a petrified pokémon guarding a Time Gear! He was trying to steal it!"

" **WHAT?!** " the crowd said with apparent shock.

They were also amazed by witnessing Piplup's ability firsthand.

"Oh my gosh! Your ability is thrilling!"

"By golly! How did ya get to see all that?! It's mighty hard for me to grasp!"

"Hey, hey, Piplup! So that pokémon you couldn't recognize...do you think it might be Azelf?"

"I think so," answered the penguin pokémon.

"I have a question for you too!" Chimecho said. "Did you see that happen in the past, or the future?"

Piplup was alarmed by the latest question!

 _Ah! Come to think of it,_ he thought, crossing his flippers across his body to think harder, _when it comes down to visions in the past or the future, it's never clear when they take place!_

He snapped himself out of his thoughts to answer Chimecho's question.

"I don't know! I'm not sure if the vision took place in the past or the future!"

"Well then," Dugtrio replied, "since it's impossible to tell if the vision took place in the future or past, I'm assuming that your vision may very well be of a past event. In that case...the Time Gear may have already been stolen from there..."

Chatot flapped his wings in alarm!

"Squawk! You're saying that we may already be late?!"

Everybody turned to each other in panic!

"Everyone, please hold on!" Dusknoir said, gaining the guild's attention. "Yes, it may be true that it could have been a vision of the past, but it could have been one of the future." He turned to Team Poképals. "If you would be so kind, Chimchar, could you remind us of what Mesprit said?" Everyone turned to Chimchar. "Who informed her via telepathy that a Time Gear was stolen? If I recall correctly, did you say it was Uxie?"

"Yes, there's no doubt about it!" answered the fire monkey pokémon.

"What about the name Azelf?"

"I've never heard it before. The name is new to me. I've just heard it today from you, Dusknoir, sir."

"Then there's still a chance!" Everyone turned to the gripper pokémon. "If Mesprit claimed that Azelf had alerted her about the stolen Time Gear…then Piplup's Dimensional Scream would surely be from the past! But that was not the case. Mesprit did not mention Azelf, therefore...it is possible that the event happens in the future!"

"I see..." Chatot replied.

"One more point…and this is a sure thing. Upon touching the crystal, Piplup experienced the Dimensional Scream. His vision indicated the presence of a Time Gear, which means that maybe what we seek is in Crystal Cave! Perhaps there is a passage there that leads to a Time Gear!"

The members were encouraged by Dusknoir's assumption.

"Yeah! Maybe it IS there!" Loudred said.

The guild members turned to each other to discuss about this to each other.

"Of course," Dusknoir said, "we may already be too late, or we may _still_ have time! As long as a chance remains, we must never give up! It's our only option!"

The members turned back to him and cheered individually to him.

"Hey, hey, absolutely!"

"There's no other choice! We have to pin our hopes on this!"

"Good thinking, Dusknoir, sir!"

"I'm all fired up with excitement!"

"Let's GO and search Crystal Cave, everyone!"

"Dusknoir, sir," Chatot said, as the gripper pokémon turned to him, "there's only one thing to do! Go explore Crystal Cave~! The whole guild will be involved, too!"

Chatot turned to Wigglytuff.

"Guildmaster, please issue the call to duty!"

Everyone turned to their guildmaster. Chatot looked puzzled by something.

"Guildmaster, uh, guildmaster?"

He went around him to see if something was wrong with him. After a few seconds, the parrot pokémon went to the front of Wigglytuff.

"Guildmaster! Are you with us?!"

Wigglytuff, with his eyes wide open, was suddenly snoring! The guild members looked stunned.

"Hey, hey, you gotta be kiddin'!"

"It looks like..."

"...he's fully asleep! With his eyes wide open too! Ewww!"

"For some reason, he's so very charming...*sigh*"

"When do y'all suppose he took to snoozin'?"

"Ya think that maybe he's been asleep from the get-go?"

Chatot turned to the guild members.

 _Oh no,_ he thought in alarm, _this just won't do! Everybody might notice that the guildmaster is sleeping! I must rouse him somehow…_ He turned back to Wigglytuff in an attempt to wake him up.

"Guildmaster!" he said while he flapped his wings repeatedly.

"...Huh?" Wigglytuff finally said.

"GUILDMASTER!" Chatot impatiently yelled.

"Oh, hi, Chatot!"

The parrot stopped flapping his wings.

"YES, GUILDMASTER?!" He realized that Wigglytuff was finally awake, and calmed down. "Er, I mean...yes, guildmaster? To take it from the top...there was..."

All of a sudden, Wigglytuff announced the following with a serious look on his face, scaring Chatot;

"Everyone, we're going after Grovyle! YOOM...TAH!"

" **HOORAY!** " the guild cheered.

The members turned to each other for a quick chat.

"Let's go to Crystal Cave!"

"We have to find that secret there somewhere!"

"Let's get down to business and start our SEARCH!"

"I will accompany all of you to Crystal Cave," Dusknoir announced to the crowd. They turned to him. "Let's do our best, everyone."

" **HOORAY!** " they cheered once more.

With the lengthy and eventful briefing finally over, the guild members and Team Poképals left to go prepare for the trip to Crystal Cave.

* * *

Later, Piplup and Chimchar, along with two other teammates that they brought along from Chimecho Assembly, arrived at Crystal Cave. The dungeon's appearance of the cave itself was beautiful, as it was loaded with shining crystals and gems on the wall, but the team knew they would not have to get distracted from that in order to get to a more pressing issue at hand – getting to Azelf in time to save him and the Time Gear from Grovyle.

* * *

At the room located at end of the cave's dungeon, the team was amazed at the sight of three differently colored crystals. They clearly stood out from the others crystals sitting in the room. Piplup and Chimchar had a conversation to each other about this.

"On the way here," Chimchar said, "we didn't see anything out of the ordinary!"

"These three crystals here though must be clues!" replied Piplup. "They have to hold a secret! It's just like the feeling that I got from both the expedition to Fogbound Lake, and from the big quicksand pit at the Northern Desert! These crystals must also have some meaning to them!"

"You could be right, pal! I'll get close to one of these crystals here so I can try to examine it!"

Chimchar got close to one of the big crystals in the room. When he touched one, it suddenly changed in color!

"Oh boy! This crystal here changed color when I touched it!" He went to go and touch another crystal, and the results were the same. "This one here also changes color when I touched it, too! This could have something to do with solving this place's secret. Try touching one for yourself so you can work your Dimensional Scream magic!"

Piplup got close to one of the crystals and touched it to change its color. After a few moments, the familiar dizzy sensation came back to his head.

 _Okay...here's the Dimensional Scream again…_

Another vision began, this time with only a voice to hear…

* * *

" _I see… Of the three spiritual elements of knowledge, emotion, and willpower, Azelf is the Being of Willpower. Willpower is the motivation that drives us...it's a unifying power. To unify is to make one. So if the colors of the crystals were made one, the path should reveal itself. Just what is the color of Azelf's spirit? We know he lives at Crystal Lake, so his spirit must be affected by the crystals here…"_

 _The vision came to an end…_

* * *

Piplup decided to think about give his latest vision a few moments.

 _That vision was unlike my earlier experiences! All I heard was a voice, but...no, that's not right. This happened once before! It was at Groudon's statue! I only heard a voice that time too, but why did that happen? Why did I only hear a voice then...and now?_

"What's the matter, Piplup?" Chimchar questioned with concern on his face. "What happened in your vision?"

"That voice in my head said to match the color of Azelf's spirit, in other words, to match the color of his head! In one of the prior visions that I saw before this, that pokémon who was in danger from Grovyle had a blue head! That must've been Azelf!"

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's give these crystals a blue color!"

Piplup and Chimchar touched each of the three crystals over and over until all of them were blue. They stood at the middle of the crystals, when all of a sudden, the peak of each of them shined, and caused the ground to shake.

"Ahhh! It's an earthquake of some sort!" exclaimed Chimchar, as he and Piplup backed away from the crystals.

The three crystals then gathered energy to form a ball of energy at the center of the room!

"It looks like something's forming here!" Piplup said. "Let's get to safety from here!"

The leaders of Team Poképals went to their accompanying teammates to watch the crystals form another crystal that was bigger than the three form from the ground. It rose up fast until it stopped to reveal an opening to another area! The team went back near the bigger crystal to get a closer look.

"Wow!" exclaimed Chimchar. "What is this?!"

"There's a big, jagged opening in the middle!" Piplup said. "We should go in there! It could lead to Azelf's lake!"

"Yeah! It could lead to a Time Gear, and of course, Azelf! Let's go and save them!"

The team went into the opening.

* * *

There was another dungeon Team Poképals would have to get through in order to get to Azelf's lake. The name of the dungeon itself was Crystal Crossing. It was slightly more challenging that Crystal Cave, but the team made it look easy to get through.

* * *

When they got near Azelf's lake, Piplup and Chimchar told their teammates to head back home because they were going to face the awfully tough Grovyle, whose strength was greater than any other outlaw pokémon that the team faced so far. The leaders themselves moved ahead, and were amazed at the sight of the lake.

"Incredible!" Chimchar exclaimed. "Look at all those crystals emerging from the lake's surface!"

"This has to be the lake where Azelf lives!" Piplup said. "Just look at that green light over there!"

They turned to the big green light to the right.

"That must be where the Time Gear is!" Chimchar said. "It looks like it's on an island there!"

"And there's someone over there, too!" Piplup exclaimed. "Let's go and get a closer look!"

They ran ahead to the path leading to the island. When they turned to the path ahead, they could not believe their eyes…

" **It's Grovyle!** " Team Poképals exclaimed.

* * *

Ahead of them, he approached a helpless pokémon.

"Ugh...urgh..." the blue pokémon grunted.

"I must take that Time Gear _now!_ " Grovyle yelled. He went around him.

"No...you can't take it...never..."

* * *

Team Poképals saw the event happening from afar, as Piplup noticed something familiar about it!

"Hey, Chimchar!" he said. "This is exactly what I saw in my vision during that Dimension Scream! It happened in the future after all!"

"Speaking of which, that must be Azelf over there! He's in trouble! Let's hurry up and save him!"

They ran as fast as they could to the lake.

* * *

Back at where Grovyle and Azelf was, the wood gecko was near a body of water.

"Now, sunk down there," he said, "is the Time Gear, is it not?" He turned to the blue pokémon to confirm his name. "Azelf, I must apologize, but I must take that Time Gear."

"H-hold it, Grovyle..."

"You know my name?"

"Y-yes! You're that thief! I heard from both Uxie and Mesprit that you were coming! I should've thought better by knocking you out directly when you first came here! I was worried though that I could lose, so I've set up a fail-safe system."

"What?!"

Azelf's eyes glowed, and the lake began to shake!

"What are you doing?!" demanded Grovyle.

* * *

Back at to where Team Poképals was, they felt the tremors.

"Ahhhh!" Chimchar shrieked.

"Look at the crystals coming out of the water there!" Piplup said.

* * *

Back at where Grovyle and Azelf were…

"Th-this..." Grovyle began, "...lake is completely covered by crystals… There's no way I can get that Time Gear now!" He said the last sentence with some fury.

"You'll never get it now!" Azelf exclaimed. "Even if it's the last thing I do, I'll _never_ let you have it!"

Grovyle turned back to him.

"So be it! I _need_ to get that Time Gear, even if I have to annihilate you!"

" **That won't happen on our watch!** " Piplup and Chimchar yelled, as they finally got close enough to approach Grovyle.

"You're not stealing another Time Gear, Grovyle!" Chimchar said with determination.

"Unless you feel wiser not to challenge me here, both of you are wasting your time!"

"We're not going anywhere!" Piplup bellowed.

"Hmph! Then if that's the case...you leave me no choice!"

Grovyle raised his arms up in the air to get into his battle stance.

"Both of you are going down!"

Piplup and Chimchar got into their battle stances.

"Azelf, step aside from here!" ordered Piplup. "We'll take care of him!"

Azelf nodded and got to a safe place from all of the pokémon who were ready to do battle with each other.

* * *

In the battle itself, Team Poképals was faced with a monumental task of bringing down the ultra-tough Grovyle. Even though Chimchar was a fire-type, his super effective moves against the grass-type thief did little damage. Grovyle was _that_ tough, as Piplup and Chimchar struggled to also keep up with his speed that was greater than the two of them.

* * *

After minutes of Team Poképals' struggle to weaken Grovyle, they were swatted away from him with little effort! They were completely battle-worn at this point, as they were unable to battle any further. Piplup stayed down, and Chimchar struggled to get back up on his feet.

"Your friend is down, Chimchar!" Grovyle said. "You should stay down as well!"

 _Even though I can't talk right now,_ the fire monkey thought, extremely fatigued at this point, _I will NOT give up! I can't let Grovyle take another Time Gear!_

"Very well, then!" Grovyle exclaimed, as he raised one arm in the air, readying an attempt to unleash the finishing blow to Chimchar! Piplup could only watch on in horror, as he was helpless to do anything!

 _N-no! Chimchar's in serious trouble! I can't save him...!_ He lost consciousness from exhaustion.

"I'm sorry," Grovyle said to Chimchar, "but this is all for the Time Gear!"

The fire monkey closed his eyes, ready to take the inevitable blow! Grovyle charged towards him, when all of a sudden…

" **Stop!** " a voice yelled.

Chimchar opened his eyes to see who it was…

 _I-i-it's Dusknoir!_

"Chimchar, get away from here!" demanded Dusknoir, while he held back Grovyle. "Let me handle this, please!"

The fire monkey still stood in place however, as the gripper pokémon pushed Grovyle back with force! The wood gecko cried out in pain, but got back up.

"Y-you!" he bellowed to Dusknoir.

"It's been too long! It wasn't easy finding you!"

Chimchar could not believe that Dusknoir somehow knew Grovyle!

 _What...was...THAT?! How does Dusknoir know Grovyle?!_

"Even here," Grovyle said, "you still gave chase to me! You're persistent, all right! You cling to me beyond my expectations!"

"Grovyle," Dusknoir replied, "you're not getting away this time!"

"I'm still surprised to see you in this world, Dusknoir, but I'm ready to settle our score!"

"You will fight then? So be it."

The two got into their battle stances.

"But can you win...against _me?!_ " questioned Dusknoir.

He and Grovyle moved for their first attack! After a flash of light, the wood gecko pokémon was suddenly gone!

 _Grovyle vanished?!_ Chimchar thought, still unable to talk.

Dusknoir looked around, seemingly confused by his opponent's disappearance.

"Curse that Grovyle! He never intended to battle me after all! But there's still no escaping _me!_ "

He too vanished from sight!

 _Dusknoir left too!_ Chimchar thought. _What in the world just happened?! I don't understand it at all!_

He finally couldn't afford to stay standing.

 _I...can't stand anymore...must...get...rest…_

He collapsed from exhaustion. Azelf, who looked on at all of these events in disbelief, came forward to Team Poképals in understandable worry.

"Oh no! Piplup and Chimchar are badly hurt! I hope somebody's nearby!"

He turned toward the path out of the lake to yell for help.

" **Somebody, come over here quickly! Two pokémon are hurt trying to protect the Time Gear!** "

He looked as far as he could. Thankfully, he saw some members of Wigglytuff's guild approaching him and Team Poképals. They were all worried for their safety, especially more with Piplup and Chimchar. They proceeded to carry all of them out of the cave and towards the guild.

* * *

The next morning, Team Poképals was in their room on their beds. They were barely awake, but their wounds were treated, as Chimecho came towards them.

"Can you hear me?" she said. "Can you move?"

Piplup and Chimchar got up slowly, opened their eyes, and turned to see if they were back at the guild.

"Are we back in our room?" questioned Piplup.

"Yes," Chimecho answered, as Team Poképals turned to her, "you're back here in the guild. You were both hurt so badly, that we had to make you sleep through the rest of the day yesterday."

Piplup turned to Chimchar, wanting to know if his best friend was okay.

"Are you all right, pal?"

"Yeah!" The fire monkey turned to his partner. "I'm just fine!"

The penguin pokémon ran to his best friend to give him a hug.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Piplup had tears streaming down his face. "You h-had me worried there! Y-you just stood there and I c-couldn't do anything to save you! I w-was extremely worried!"

"I'm so sorry that I worried you, pal," Chimchar said with his eyes closed. He wore a smile on his face and patted Piplup on his back to comfort him. "It's OK now, let it all out."

They held their heartwarming embrace for a few moments. Later, Piplup separated himself and Chimchar from the hug. The penguin pokémon wiped his tears away and had a wide smile on his beak. He felt reassured knowing that his pal was indeed fully healed.

"I'm very, _very_ glad that you're okay, pal," Piplup said. "It's also a good thing that your voice returned, too."

"Yeah," Chimchar replied, "I can speak again!"

Now that they knew they were both fine, Team Poképals realized that they forgot someone else. They turned to Chimecho.

"W-what about Azelf?!" questioned Chimchar. "Is he okay?!"

"Yes, he's fine," answered Chimecho. "Compared to the both of you, his injuries weren't that severe. He's also here in the guild now."

"That's awesome!" Piplup happily exclaimed.

"Judging by the way both of you sound to me, you're one-hundred-percent healed! I'll let the guild know you're awake!"

Chimecho rang the bell on top of her head.

"Everybody, they're awake!"

The guild members came rushing into Team Poképals' room. They surrounded both Piplup and Chimchar, understandably ecstatic by their recovery.

"R-really?! AWESOME!"

"Oh my gosh, that's wonderful news!"

"I'm mighty glad! If anything would've happened to y'all, I'd w-weep e-endlessly!"

"All of you guys are getting so emotional over this!" Piplup happily said to the crowd. "But what the heck, _we're_ glad we're OK, too!" A light then went on in his head. "Wait a minute!" The crowd stopped talking. "There's something that Chimchar and I need to share with all of you! Come with us so we can share it with the rest of the gang!"

The members followed Team Poképals to the spot near the guildmaster's chamber.

* * *

Piplup and Chimchar told all of the guild, including Azelf, that Dusknoir and Grovyle had known each other before somehow. Team Poképals assumed that it sounded like that they had a long standing rivalry with each other. When Grovyle got away, Dusknoir also vanished in pursuit of him.

Just as Piplup and Chimchar were going to tell more about this interesting story, an emergency siren within the guild sounded off.

"Hey, Diglett!" Dugtrio exclaimed, knowing that his son used the siren. He and the guild turned to the usual sentry duty pokémon. "What's wrong?"

"It's an alert from a magnemite officer. He says an emergency call has been sent out by Officer Magnezone!" He turned to the sentry post entrance on the floor. "Deputy Magnemite, please shout your message down to the sentry post clearly!"

"This is about an important announcement from Officer Magnezone! Everyone is to gather at the main square in Treasure Town at once! He will have a major announcement to make to everybody there! All pokémon within the area have also been called for this town meeting, so expect lots of company there! That is all! We hope all of you show up for the meeting right away!"

Everybody in the guild turned to each other.

"What's happening now?"

"What might that important announcement be?"

Corphish turned to everyone to get their attention.

"Hey, hey, no point in wonderin'! Let's go and get the answer by going to Treasure Town's main square now!"

They agreed with him as all of them went up the ladder, and out of the guild to get to Treasure Town.


	13. Dusknoir's Secret

_**Chapter 13**_

 _ **Dusknoir's Secret**_

Team Poképals and the guild members had arrived at the main square of Treasure Town. As expect, lots of pokémon had gathered within the area. Azelf reunited with Uxie and Mesprit, who were relieved that he was fine. Piplup and Chimchar went to Dusknoir and thanked him for saving them at Crystal Lake. They had a question on the whereabouts of Grovyle though that they had to get out of their minds.

"So...what happened to Grovyle?" questioned Piplup. "What became of him?"

"I gave chase to him," Dusknoir began to answer, "but he slipped away from me."

"I have another question for you! Chimchar here wondered how you and Grovyle seemed to know each other. What was-"

Piplup was interrupted by Magnezone.

"If I may interrupt! The great Dusknoir plans to explain what he knows! The topic will be included today! Everyone gather around us, please!"

They did as they were instructed. While the pokémon waited for a few moments, they turned to each other to wonder about what was about to be discussed.

"Golly, I wonder what this could all be about?"

"Who knows? Don't ask ME!"

Magnezone stepped forward.

"Can I have everyone's attention, please?"

They turned to him so that they could listen to what he had to say.

"This meeting will now begin! Our first topic today is on the rash of Time Gear thefts! As you may have noticed, several Time Gears have been stolen by the pokémon Grovyle! In the regions where a Time Gear was stolen, the flow of time has come to a standstill! As you may have guessed, this of course is a serious problem! However, Grovyle has failed to steal one Time Gear, which is being protected at Crystal Lake as I speak right now!"

The crowd cheered!

"Yay!"

"Well, isn't that something!"

"The hero who protected it was the mighty Azelf!" Magnezone continued. "And the hero who saved Azelf and chased off Grovyle," he turned to Dusknoir, "would be the great Dusknoir right here!"

The crowd cheered again!

"That's astounding!"

"No wonder why he's such a famous explorer!"

"Officer Magnezone," Dusknoir said, turning to the pokémon in question, "I'm sorry to interrupt, but perhaps I should explain from here..."

"Of course! Please take it from here!"

The magnet zone pokémon stepped aside to allow Dusknoir to brief the crowd of pokémon himself.

"While we should be happy that we protected the Time Gear this time, the fact is that Grovyle still remains at large, and therefore, we cannot afford to feel safe and secure just yet. He will most likely make another attempt to steal the Time Gear."

The crowd turned around, discussing the matter with understandable uneasiness. Dusknoir, meanwhile, continued his briefing.

"There is another matter that is tied to all of this. One that is an extremely important matter that I must share with you. I will now explain it to you."

The pokémon quieted down and turned to him to listen to the important piece of information…

"First, Chimchar here earlier asked me the following question...did I know Grovyle, before all of this happened? That is correct; I _do_ know him."

" **WHAT?!** " almost everyone exclaimed in shock.

"What I am about to say," Dusknoir continued, "may be beyond your belief, but it also happens to be the truth. Furthermore, if what I'm about to reveal isn't stopped, calamity is certain! I, therefore, ask for your undivided attention. First, Grovyle is a pokémon that came here from the future."

Everybody was understandably shocked that the wood gecko thief actually came from the future!

"F-future?"

"What does he mean by 'from the future'?"

"I think he means from a place where things are yet to happen..."

"But is something like THAT possible?! A pokémon...coming from the FUTURE?!"

Dusknoir resumed his important briefing.

"In the world of the future, Grovyle is a notorious criminal. He has a large bounty on his head, and avoided capture from the future. In fleeing, he escaped to this world of the past. After arriving here, Grovyle plotted...until he hit upon an utterly catastrophic plan."

"Wh-what is that?!" Chatot demanded. "What was his plan?!"

"It was nothing less than...causing the planet's paralysis."

"The planet's...paralysis?"

"Correct. If a planet becomes paralyzed, all movement upon it ceases. When a Time Gear is removed, the flow of time slows within the vicinity of its region. As many more are taken, time slows in an ever-larger area, and eventually, the planet's flow slows down so much that it stops entirely. Ultimately, the planet reaches a state of total paralysis..."

"If the planet's paralyzed," Teddiursa began, "what happens to this world?"

"In a world where the planet has become paralyzed," Dusknoir began answering, "no winds blow… The day never comes… Neither season ever comes… It is a world of unrelenting darkness… It would be no exaggeration to call it the complete ruin of the world."

The crowd was shaken by the description by the idea of the paralyzed planet!

"Th-the world's...ruin?!"

"Is THAT what happens if the Time Gears are taken away?!"

"The way time has been going out of control lately," Dusknoir continued, "that too, is caused by the thefts of the Time Gears. If they continue to be stolen, this world will end in ruin."

The pokémon turned to each other for a discussion.

"S-so that's what would happen..."

"This is bad!"

"We've gotta do something!"

Corphish stepped forward of the crowd.

"Hey, hey! I've got a question!" They turned to him. "There's something that I don't understand."

"What is it?" Dusknoir said.

"I understand that we've got a big problem on our hands, but I don't understand why you know so much, Dusknoir, sir! I mean, I know that you're knowledgeable and wise...and sure, I really respect you and all...but how would you know the future, no matter _how_ knowledgeable you are?"

"Ah, yes. What you said made perfect sense." The crowd turned back to Dusknoir. "Under normal circumstances, it is true that there is no way that I should know these things. That begs the question of why I know them in the first place. It is because that I, too...am a pokémon from the future."

" **WHAT?!** " the crowd said, shocked by the revelation.

"You're...another pokémon from the future?!" questioned Chimchar.

"That is correct," Dusknoir answered. "My objective is to capture Grovyle, and it is for that reason that I came from the future. I needed to know as much as possible to ensure his capture. I therefore studied everything I could about this world while in the future. _That_ , is why I know so much about this world."

"Why didn't you say anything about it before?" Ursaring said.

"I must apologize. I have felt terrible for not saying anything. I am sincerely sorry for not revealing my identity. I am full of contrition. But...what if I had been open about my identity from the start? What would have happened if I had said that I was from the future? Who would have taken me seriously?"

Ursaring grunted in response.

"Also," Dusknoir continued, "I needed to avoid alerting Grovyle to my presence. I decided that I should keep my identity hidden while I went about with my work."

"It makes sense," Chatot said.

"But...it is also a fact that I _have_ been deceiving you. I must apologize for keeping silent about my identity."

"No, no! Please don't apologize! You can't blame yourself! You had no choice!"

"I concur!" Magnezone insisted. "Dusknoir has done nothing wrong in my book! We should focus our anger on Grovyle instead, and somehow capture him!"

The crowd agreed.

"Yeah! We're in DEEP trouble if we let him go on!"

"We need to catch him before the world gets ruined!"

"Dusknoir, sir, I'll be glad to help!"

"Me too!"

"By golly, me too!"

"Hey, hey, count me in!"

"We will cooperate as well!"

"I refuse to remain a victim any longer!"

"We won't let him steal another one!"

Dusknoir turned to each of the volunteering pokémon, acknowledging their support. "Everyone, thank you so much. We, as pokémon, must all work as one...to capture Grovyle...and put an end to his calamitous plot!"

" **YEAH!** " the crowd cheered.

The crowd of pokémon turned to each for a conversation, feeling reassured by Dusknoir's words of encouragement. The lake trio turned to him.

"Dusknoir, sir," Azelf said, "in order to obtain the Time Gear from Crystal Lake, Grovyle knows he must defeat me. If he's still after my Time Gear, he'll come after me."

"We could turn that against him," Uxie insisted. "Mesprit, Azelf, and I can go to Crystal Lake...so that we can all spread rumors claiming that we have gone to seal the Time Gear to ensure that it can never be taken."

"If we did that," Mesprit began to question, "do you think it would provoke Grovyle to strike?"

"Yes, I see," answered Dusknoir. "You're suggesting that we bait the trap."

The lake trio nodded in agreement.

"But that would mean exposing yourselves to danger as the bait!"

They insisted that their dangerous plan would work.

"I'd like nothing more!"

"If that means stopping Grovyle..."

"...we're ready to take that risk."

"Then..." began Dusknoir, "...I understand."

He turned back to the crowd to get their attention.

"Everyone, let me explain our plan! First, I would like you to spread a rumor, far and wide! Get the word out about Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf, and tell everyone else that the trio has returned to Crystal Lake to seal the Time Gear away. Please spread the rumor as much as possible."

"I see that you want word of this to reach Grovyle's ears," assumed Chatot.

"That's correct, but Grovyle still won't be convinced by rumor alone. That's why I must ask Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf to actually go to Crystal Lake."

"I got it!" Piplup exclaimed. "When Grovyle shows up to find Azelf and the others, that's when we can capture him!"

The crowd agreed with the plan.

"I get it NOW!"

"I'm all fired up with that plan!"

"We'll arrest him for sure!"

"I called it! I'll be the one to catch Grovyle!"

"No, it is my duty to catch criminals!"

Team Poképals turned to each other.

"Let's not get outdone by the others, Chimchar!" Piplup said.

"Yeah, that's the spirit!"

"Although I'm grateful for your kind offers, I have to apologize," Dusknoir announced to the crowd, getting their attention once more. "I will work alone in capturing Grovyle."

" **WHY?!** "

"He will be extremely wary. Even if he were to realize that Azelf and the other two have truly gone to Crystal Lake, Grovyle will be extremely cautious. If we were to attempt laying a massive ambush for him at Crystal Lake, he will undoubtedly notice the unusual number of pokémon within the area, thus I am afraid that he will not be lured out by Azelf and the others that way. That is why I insist upon capturing Grovyle by myself."

"Well, that's a shame," Chimchar sadly replied.

"I'm terribly sorry, Chimchar," Dusknoir said. "It is the only way that I will hope to capture Grovyle without any mistakes whatsoever. Please forgive my selfishness."

Chatot stepped in the middle of the crowd to get the guild's attention to him.

"That's how it stands, guild members. Up to now...we were capturing Grovyle! Yoom...taah!"

"Hey, that's _my_ catchphrase!" Wigglytuff said, a little annoyed.

"At least, that was the plan. This time, we must stay out of it, but we'll still provide support when needed!"

The guild members reluctantly agreed.

"Well, hey, hey..."

"It that's what it takes..."

"We've got no choice!"

Chatot turned to Wigglytuff. "Guildmaster, is that an acceptable plan?"

"Yup, yup~!"

"Hey!" Bidoof said. "That's _my_ catchphrase!"

The guild members, including Team Poképals, couldn't help but laugh.

"Thank you for hearing me out, everyone," Dusknoir said. The crowd turned to him once more. "I do realize that I am asking a huge favor, but _please_ , do your part in our plan! However you do it...capture Grovyle!"

" **Y** **ES** **,** **SIR** **!** "

Having dismissed the crowd, Dusknoir and the lake trio left the town square to set off for Crystal Cave. The other pokémon around here meanwhile began to spread rumors that Azelf and the others were about to seal the Time Gear away. As for Wigglytuff and his guild members, they went back to their place for business as usual.

* * *

At the floor where Wigglytuff's chamber was at, Chatot was beginning to wrap up briefing the guild on the current situation. The rumor was indeed beginning to spread as much as possible by pokémon around the Grass Continent, but the members were asked to try and do their part too. Not too much, however, as to not make Grovyle suspicious. Chatot encouraged the members to do this for the next few days so that they could bring the Time Gear thief to justice. The parrot pokémon then dismissed the guild, and Team Poképals resumed their daily routine of taking jobs from the boards.

* * *

Later that evening, Piplup and Chimchar were in their room, sitting down on their beds to talk to each other about the eventful day that happened at Treasure Town's main square.

"I have to admit that today was full of surprises," Chimchar said.

"Yeah," Piplup agreed, "Dusknoir revealing to us that he came from the future was a definite mind blower! He pursed Grovyle from the future to our present world here just so he could capture him!"

"Once that happens, Dusknoir will probably take Grovyle to the future. That might mean we would have to say happy trails to the great Dusknoir..."

"Yep, but that's why his job of capturing Grovyle is his responsibility. We have to trust Dusknoir about this."

"To be honest, I'd like to capture Grovyle ourselves, but I'm just not up to the task yet."

"Yeah, me neither. He was awfully tough when we tried to apprehend him, and we got steamrolled by doing so."

"We don't have any other choice but to depend on Dusknoir after all."

Piplup and Chimchar yawned.

"Boy, I'm getting sleepy from thinking about all of this..." Chimchar said.

"Yeah, me too..." Piplup replied. "We'd better get some sleep now."

"I hope Grovyle gets caught soon..."

"Me too. Good night, Chimchar."

"Good night."

They laid down on their beds and went to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Chatot briefed the guild again on the current situation. He had still not received word if Grovyle was captured or not, nor if the lake trio was doing fine. Chatot still urged the guild not to go off on their own and ruin the trap. He ordered them to stand down until they could receive any further information. The guild agreed, and they went about their daily business today.

Team Poképals was getting restless on the whole ordeal, as they had another conversation later that night. They were beginning to wonder if Dusknoir, Azelf and the others were doing just fine in their attempt to capture Grovyle. Piplup and Chimchar also found it hard to fathom that Dusknoir and Grovyle coming from the future had been really possible. Despite it all, the leaders of the team went to sleep, hoping that the entire situation would eventually be resolved.

* * *

Another morning came. Chatot once more briefed the guild on the attempt to capture Grovyle. They still had yet to receive word if he was captured or not. Chatot urged the guild to stay patient as much as they could, as he tried to make them carry on their daily work routine. All of a sudden, the guild's alarm went off. Diglett turned to the members that a magnemite deputy had arrived to deliver a message.

"This is a message from Sheriff Magnezone!" the magnemite officer announced. "We are pleased to deliver the report that Grovyle has finally been captured!"

The guild was amazed at the accomplishment.

"At long LAST!"

"We finally got Grovyle!"

"They did it! Yippee!"

"That's not all," the magnemite continued, "Grovyle was captured by none other than the great Dusknoir! He has informed us that he will return to the future with Grovyle!"

The guild was shocked.

"Dusknoir is..."

",,,going home?"

"He's going back to the future? How does he do that?"

"I do not understand the process, either," the magnemite officer continued, "but from what I have heard, both of them will be going through a tunnel called a dimensional hole. Dusknoir has opened it within the town's main square, and told us that he wishes to say goodbye before he leaves. He hopes that all of you will see him for the last time at Treasure Town's square."

Piplup turned to the guild members.

"All right, everybody! You heard him! Let's get to Treasure Town, quickly!"

The guild went up the ladder to get to the town's main square.

* * *

Wigglytuff's guild arrived at the main square to see that everyone else had gathered to say farewell to Dusknoir. He had not arrived yet, but a strange portal called the dimensional hole was behind Magnezone. He ordered everybody not to get close to the portal so that they would not get pulled in. The portal itself would send anyone to the future. The lake trio was also there as well, as Team Poképals noticed them. The trio confirmed to them that the plan to capture Grovyle had indeed been successful, and that the Time Gears were back in the trio's rightful possession. Dusknoir announced to the crowd that he arrived. They turned around not only to see him, but a pair a sableye and the captured Grovyle along as well. Grovyle had a thick rope tied around his body, and another tied to his mouth. The company got near the dimensional hole as the crowd gathered away from them to listen to Dusknoir.

"Everyone," he began, "today I would like to share excellent news with you. Grovyle, at long last, has been captured!"

Everyone cheered, though it was pretty obvious.

"This was all made possible by your selfless support and cooperation! I cannot thank you enough!"

The crowd cheered again.

"As you all know, Grovyle is a vicious and wicked pokémon. His capture should result in lasting peace for your world."

Grovyle tried to speak, but the rope tied around his mouth prevented him from doing so. He could only manage a distorted grunt.

"It looks like that they have a rope tied on his mouth so he can't speak," Chimchar said.

"Unfortunately," Dusknoir continued, "I am also here today to deliver sad news. It is time for me to return to the future, therefore I must bid farewell to all of you now."

The crowd had somber looks on their faces.

"Hey, hey, he wasn't lying about leaving after all..."

"I'm feelin' the blues… There was so much I wanted to learn from you..."

Dusknoir turned to the lake trio.

"Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf...I entrust you with the rest."

The trio nodded in agreement.

"We will make sure the Time Gears are returned to the rightful places," Uxie said.

"Thank you so much for everything that you've done for all of us!" Magnezone said. "You have saved us all!"

"No, no!" Dusknoir insisted, turning to him. "You have been most kind and helpful. I hope you will continue to work to preserve the peace."

"Yes! You can depend on that!"

Dusknoir turned back to the crowd.

"Now...I am afraid that the time has come."

He turned back to the sableye to motion to them to take Grovyle back to the future in the dimensional hole. They forced him in first, before they went in themselves. Dusknoir went closer to the portal, and turned back to the crowd one last time.

"Though it pains me, everybody..." he said.

Before he continued, most of the crowd was beginning to cry.

"Ohhh, I hate sad goodbyes!"

"I h-h-hope we see you again..."

"Waaah! Dusknoir...sir...we'll m-miss you!"

Dusknoir, not wanting to prolong the saddening situation, turned around and went even closer to the dimensional hole.

"Wait!" he suddenly said. He turned around again.

"Before I go...I must see Team Poképals for a second..."

"That's us," Chimchar said, turning to Piplup as tears streamed from his eyes, along with his friend. "Let's go up there."

They went up to Dusknoir.

"This is r-really g-goodbye!" Piplup said, sobbing in between. "For e-everything that you've done...we're v-very, very g-grateful!"

"Yes...it _is_ goodbye..." began Dusknoir, "...or is it?"

"What?!" Piplup and Chimchar said.

Dusknoir suddenly had his hands up! It appeared that he was going to grab them!

"It's too soon for farewells!"

He indeed snatched both of them, shocking the crowd!

"Both of you...are coming with me!"

He dragged them toward the dimensional hole, went in, and disappeared! The portal then closed itself. The crowd was still in shock over what just happened.

Team Poképals was unwillingly dragged by Dusknoir into the future...


	14. Into the Future

_**Chapter 14**_

 _ **Into the Future**_

In the future, just as Dusknoir himself described it, time was at a standstill completely. Nearly everything was a grayish color. Trees and plants were wilted, landscapes were almost barren, and perhaps even more unusual, rocks could be floating up in the air. Even a tower that was floating high in the sky was almost completely demolished. It was where Dusknoir was at, talking to an unknown pokémon covered in a pitch black area…

"I am sorry to have kept you waiting, Master Dialga..." Dusknoir began. "While I encountered more difficulty than I anticipated myself, I finally succeeded in the capture."

Dialga's eyes glowed red. His outlines on his body were not glowing in their usual color, instead orange lines took their place instead of blue. Most of his body was also visible, albeit barely. He could only growl to Dusknoir monotonously.

"I fully understand what must be done," the gripper pokémon continued. "I will erase those who seek to alter the course of history."

Dialga growled again in agreement.

"I understand. As you wish. I will now take my leave."

The temporal pokémon stopped glowing, as Dusknoir left him…

* * *

Meanwhile, Team Poképals woke up in a room covered with gray rocks that had a door made of steel bars. They turned to each other to wonder where they were...

"What is this place?" questioned Piplup.

"I think it's a jail..." answered Chimchar.

"J-jail?!"

"I'm afraid so… Even though both of us woke up now, we're still not sure about what in the world is going on right now..."

"Well, we gotta get out of here! We need to find answers!"

They turned and went towards the door to try and open it several times, but to no avail.

"Blast it!" cursed Piplup. "The door won't open!"

He and Chimchar stepped away from the door and turned to each other.

"How exactly did we end up this way?" questioned Chimchar.

"I think Dusknoir grabbed us...and took us into the dimensional hole!" answered Piplup.

"What?! So this means...we're in the future?!"

"Unfortunately, yes..."

"Unbelievable! Why are we even _here_ in the first place, then?!"

Chimchar looked around the room, who was finding the surroundings of the room to be unfamiliar to him. He turned back to Piplup.

"This whole room is built in a way unlike anything I've ever seen before! Maybe this _is_ the future after all!"

The fire monkey pokémon calmed himself down, and had a sad look on his face.

"Ugh, what should we do now? We're running out of ideas!"

"We have to _somehow_ get back to our world," Piplup answered, "but first, we need to-"

All of a sudden, the ground shook as the jail door opened up! Piplup and Chimchar turned to see that four sableye came into the room! They all shone a light from one of their gem-like eyes.

"They're awake," one sableye said. "How convenient." He turned back to his company. "All right, let's do this quickly!"

"Do _what_ quickly?!" demanded Piplup.

The four sableye surrounded Team Poképals and put blindfolds over their eyes! They couldn't see!

"W-what the-?!" Piplup exclaimed.

"They've blindfolded us!" Chimchar said. "I can't see anything now!"

"You will now come with us!" said a sableye.

They forced Team Poképals out of the jail cell and into an unknown place…

Moments later, the four sableye brought Piplup and Chimchar into another room…

"These stupid blindfolds make it impossible to tell where we are now..." Piplup said, obviously annoyed.

"Yeah," replied Chimchar. "I can't stand it either!"

One sableye took off the blindfolds from Chimchar, standing on a spot that had a spotlight shone on him.

"Whoa! It's pitch black in here!" He tried to move. "Great! I still can't move! I'm all tied up here! Literally!"

Chimchar was indeed stuck in place to a pillar with lots of thick ropes keeping him in place.

"Hey, Piplup!" He turned to his right to try and find his pal. "Where are y-"

Suddenly, another light shone on the penguin pokémon.

"Oh, there you are! Looks like you're all tied up, too!"

"Afraid so!"

A voice suddenly spoke up as they turned to its source…

"All of you are clueless as to what is about to happen..."

"W-who said that?!" demanded Chimchar.

The light shone on the mysterious pokémon to reveal that it was Grovyle!

"G-Grovyle?!" Piplup and Chimchar said, who were shocked by his appearance.

"Do any of you have any idea where you are now?"

"No..." answered Chimchar.

"This room is a stockade," Grovyle answered, "where they will get rid of us for good."

"What?!" Team Poképals said. "They're getting rid of us?!"

"Now wait a minute!" Piplup spoke next. "It's easy to understand why they'd want to get rid of you, Grovyle...but why us?! We haven't done anything wrong!"

"I wouldn't care less!" the wood gecko pokémon bellowed. "Both of you must have done something that they couldn't tolerate."

"What in the blazes do you mean by that?!" Piplup furiously questioned. "I'll say it again, we didn't do _anything_ wrong! Don't think that we're like you!"

"I don't care! You're wasting your breath here! Just look at our company coming towards us!"

The three captured pokémon turned to the front as the stockade room completely lit up. Six sableye entered from the door ahead of them.

"W-who are those pokémon?!" questioned Chimchar with panic on his face.

"Those are a group of sableye," answered Grovyle. "They're the jailers who do all the dirty work around here. They also happen to be Dusknoir's henchmen."

" **WHAT?!** " Team Poképals exclaimed in shock.

Dusknoir entered the room!

"I-it's him!" Chimchar said.

"Lord Dusknoir," one of the sableye said, "the three have been tied to the stakes."

"Good," the gripper pokémon said.

He floated a couple of feet forward.

"My fellow henchmen, we need to be rid of those three."

" **WHAT?!** " Piplup and Chimchar said.

"Prepare to show them no mercy!" Dusknoir ordered to the sableye.

They laughed in approval, and turned to the three pokémon. They approached them...

"Dusknoir, sir," Chimchar said, "please stop! Why are you even doing this to us?!"

"Keep quiet and listen very carefully to me!" Grovyle demanded. Team Poképals reluctantly listened and turned to him.

"If both of you want to get away," he whispered, "I'll need your full cooperation."

"We have to help you?!" yelled Piplup quietly.

"Unless you want to stick around here, there's no other choice! Now what should we do?"

"We'll attack our way out!"

"That's it! Even if it's just a regular attack, that will do!"

The sableye were very close to the three at this point…

"They're g-getting closer!" Chimchar nervously said.

"Now, although it sounds scary," Grovyle insisted, "when the sableye use their claws for their Fury Swipes to slash the rope up, we'll have to attack at just the right moment so we can escape! In other words, wait for the ropes to get loose!"

Piplup and Chimchar nodded in agreement.

Just then, the sableye used their Fury Swipes move to tear the ropes apart! After a few moments, the ropes on all three captors got loose enough for them to attack the sableye without any hesitation! They sent them back a few feet, stunning Dusknoir from afar.

"What is this?!" he exclaimed.

Grovyle took out something from his bag and threw it to the ground to blind the sableye and Dusknoir!

"We can't see!" one sableye said.

"That blasted Grovyle used a Luminous Orb to blind us!" Dusknoir replied. "Don't worry, it'll wear off quickly!"

The blinding light wore off after a few seconds. All of a sudden, the captors vanished from sight!

"Curses!" Dusknoir bellowed. "They got away from us! Follow me, now!"

He turned to the door and ran out from it. The sableye followed him.

What they did not notice, is that the captors themselves burrowed deep underground. They emerged and shook off the gray dirt.

"Gross!" Chimchar said. "I got dirt in my mouth..."

"It looks like we're safe though," insisted Piplup, as he turned to Grovyle. "Grovyle, you never told us you can use Dig! You sure know many moves!"

"Although we got out of that scrape," he said, deciding to ignore Piplup's claim, "we're not out of the woods yet. We need to get out of here, fast!"

Team Poképals followed Grovyle out of the stockade…

* * *

They continued to be on the run for a while, as Grovyle urged Piplup and Chimchar to keep on pace with him.

"Come on, keep up!" the wood gecko pokémon said. "We must keep running until we get to the exit!" He looked back at them and saw them slowing down. "Run faster!"

"This is the fastest we can go!" yelled Chimchar. "Quit ordering us around!"

"Is this really the future, Grovyle?" questioned Piplup.

"That's correct. You catch on fast."

"I knew it..." Chimchar replied. "Are we...going to be able to get back to our world somehow?"

"Who knows? We just need to get away for now! If we get caught, returning home will be the least of your concerns. Now run faster!"

"We still can't! We're getting exhausted..."

Grovyle heard Piplup and Chimchar panting heavily.

"Lucky for the both of you, because the exit's right over there! Look!"

They looked at the door to the outside and ran through it.

"We're finally outside!" exclaimed Piplup.

* * *

They arrived out of the building of the stockade and Team Poképals took more notice of the environment outside…

"Wh-what is this?!" Chimchar said.

They looked on to the scenery of dead trees, floating rocks, and a gray landscape. The sky was a gloomy dark blue.

"Is this our world...in the future?" Piplup questioned.

"It's hard to imagine it with those boulders floating in place!" replied Chimchar. "Not to mention that it's horribly dark, too… The wind's not even blowing..."

"It's as if...all movement...and everything...has stopped."

"Exactly," Grovyle said, turning to them.

" **What?!** " exclaimed Piplup and Chimchar.

All of a sudden, a sound of sableye laughing could be heard behind them!

"Ahh! Those sableye are catching up to us!" Chimchar shrieked.

"Let's get a move on, then!" Grovyle ordered.

The three runaway pokémon turned around and ran again, having caught their breath for not much time.

Piplup and Chimchar were getting exhausted again.

"I know both of you are exhausted," Grovyle said, as he noticed, "but there's no time to rest! If they catch us, we're done for! Tough it out and run!"

"That's...easy for you to say..." Chimchar said in between pants. "We just can't keep up. We need to rest."

"Fine, then."

It was at that moment that they arrived to an entrance of a dungeon.

* * *

Grovyle and Team Poképals stopped near the cave's entrance and turned to each other as Piplup and Chimchar attempted to catch their breath. The wood gecko pokémon looked at the structure of the cave and realized that they were safe from view.

"This structure forms a natural alcove," Grovyle said, turning to Team Poképals, "so it should shield us from view. After a quick rest, we'll need to get moving again."

"Wait a minute!" Chimchar said. "When we escaped from the stockade, we cooperated with you because we had no other choice… But we didn't promise we'd go with _you_ afterward! A bad pokémon like you...isn't worthy of being trusted!"

 _Chimchar...we have no choice but to trust him for now…_ Piplup thought.

"So you're saying that I'm the bad guy...and that Dusknoir is the good guy?" questioned Grovyle. "If so, I'll have to remind you his actions from earlier! It wasn't just me that he and his minions wanted to be rid of...they wanted _both_ of you gone too!"

"That still doesn't mean I should put my faith in you, Grovyle..." Chimchar insisted.

"Earning your trust doesn't seem to be an easy task for you," Grovyle replied. "I though that having allies would help, but there will be no point in continuing together without trust. We'll just go our separate ways, because I'm staying on the move. Both of you should think it over quickly, then when the time comes, get going immediately."

He turned to the cave's entrance.

"Good luck."

The wood gecko started making his way, but Chimchar stopped him.

"W-wait! You're telling us to leave soon, but it's too dark out now! It'll be hard for us to see where we're going! Instead of setting off again right away, shouldn't we wait for morning? Wouldn't it be better to leave when it gets bright out here?"

"That sadly isn't possible. I hate to say it, but morning never comes."

Piplup and Chimchar gasped, as one of their worst fears about the future were confirmed. Grovyle turned back to them.

"This world of yours in the future," he said, "is a world of perpetual darkness. Morning never comes because the sun never rises here. Darkness persists forever."

"Wh-why?" questioned Chimchar.

"Because...the planet has been paralyzed."

"It's...paralyzed?" The fire monkey pokémon gave it a thought, then he realized something. "Wait! I remember about the planet's paralysis now!" He turned to Piplup, who in turn turned to his best friend. "Dusknoir described it before… He said that if a planet becomes paralyzed, all movement upon it ceases. When one Time Gear's removed, the flow of time slows within its region. As many others are taken, time slows in an ever-larger area. Eventually, the planet's flow slows down so much that it stops entirely. It ultimately reaches a state of complete paralysis where no winds blow, day never comes, and neither season is rotated at all in a world of unrelenting darkness. Dusknoir also described it as the total ruin of the world. This place that we're at right now completely resembles his description!"

Chimchar examined the area around him.

"But even then...it's still hard to understand how exactly the planet's been paralyzed in the future."

"You're free to believe," Grovyle responded, as Team Poképals turned to him, "or reject, what I'm telling you. Either way, I suggest you leave here as soon as you can. I'm leaving now. Don't let those sableye catch you."

He turned to the cave's entrance and went in. Chimchar, meanwhile, turned to Piplup.

"Piplup, I just don't know what to think anymore. Wasn't the planet's paralysis supposed to be caused by all those Time Gears going missing?"

"Yeah! That's why we all tried to stop Grovyle from stealing the Time Gears! But, for some strange reason, I have a feeling we didn't do the right thing now, considering what's happened so far..."

"But Uxie and the others said they would return the recaptured Time Gears to their rightful places. That should've prevented the planet's paralysis!"

"Despite all our efforts, though...we still have to wonder why it's still paralyzed...in our future."

"Arrgh!" Chimchar grunted in frustration. "I don't know who or what to believe anymore!"

Suddenly, a sound of sableye laughing in the distance interrupted Team Poképals' discussion!

"Ahhh!" shrieked Chimchar. "The sableye are catching up to us!"

"Then we can't stay here, pal!" Piplup insisted. "Let's get into that cave and force our way through!"

They turned to the entrance of the cave and went in as quick as they could!

* * *

The cave's dungeon known as Chasm Cave was filled with rooms and floors that had no walls around them. Team Poképals would need to be extra careful not to take a wrong step on the paths or they would fall to their certain doom.

* * *

After carefully going up eight floors, Piplup and Chimchar made it out alive and well. They arrived to a wide path that was surrounded by rocky mountains left and right, and of course, falling boulders frozen in time. They tried to catch their breath again for a few moments as they turned back to Chasm Cave's exit.

"I hope we...were able to...put some distance between us...and those sableye..." Chimchar said.

"Yeah…me too..." replied Piplup. "Let's rest for now, though. We need to catch our breath."

His partner browsed around in place to look at their surroundings. Chimchar looked at one particular area.

"Hey, there's a frozen waterfall over there!"

He and Piplup made their way to the waterfall. They noticed that the gushing water had been completely suspended in space.

"Grovyle could be right after all…" Chimchar began, sighing in defeat. He turned to the penguin pokémon. "Time _has_ stopped in the future. But there's still something that I want to know...why did Dusknoir bring us here in the first place? He was so kind to us before...but now he does _that_?! I don't know what to believe anymore..." The fire monkey turned back to the waterfall. "If only there was some way of finding the truth..."

Piplup had a light go on in his head.

"Wait! I got it!" he exclaimed. Chimchar turned back to him. "There is a way of getting the truth, Chimchar! I can try to use my Dimensional Scream by touching that frozen water here!"

"Yeah! Who knows if you could see something! Give it a go!"

Piplup approached the waterfall to touch the frozen spray of water. He waited for a few moments to see if a vision could come to him.

"...Well, Piplup?" Chimchar said. "Are you getting a vision?"

A few more seconds passed, but Piplup's dizzying sensation never came to his head.

"It's no good." He turned back to Chimchar. "I'm not sensing anything."

"Well, that's disappointing. That could've been real helpful in a desperate situation like this..."

"No time to dwell on it, though. We've gotta get going before those sableye get to us!"

* * *

They turned to the right of the path and saw not only a narrow path leading to the entrance of another dungeon, but also a Kangaskhan Rock. They desperately needed to sort out their inventory after what seemed like forever since the last time they used the storage at Treasure Town in the past. They hoped the Kangaskhan Rock would still work in the future, and somehow, thankfully, it did. They managed to get out their items stored in their past and put them in their bag to use later. Team Poképals was fully stocked and thus, went into the dungeon.

* * *

Piplup and Chimchar were now in the Dark Hill dungeon. This time, it had walls on every floor, so there was no worry of falling. It did, however, contain many ghost-type pokémon. Since Team Poképals had some of their moves that were a normal type, they did very little damage, so they had to rely on their respective water and fire type moves to defeat their foes.

* * *

Piplup and Chimchar got to the end of Dark Hill's dungeon, and were on top of a hillside. They looked to the left a saw a slew of lights below them. One group of lights caught their attention and went near the edge of the cliff to get a closer look.

"That cluster of lights looks beautiful," Piplup said, "but when we looked closer, it's really just the stockade..."

He and Chimchar backed away from the cliff and turned to each other for a conversation.

"Hey, Piplup," began the fire monkey pokémon. "I want to go back to discussing about Dusknoir. You know, the great Dusknoir saved us more than once, and taught us many things too. That's why I really respected him, but has he been...deceiving us all this time?"

"Yeah," Piplup answered, "I find it hard to believe that he'd betray us like that..."

"I've said it many times before, but I just don't know what to believe anymore… I'm feeling all jumbled up. What should… What should we do now? How far do we have to run? How do we go back to our own world?"

Chimchar thought about the pokémon back at Wigglytuff's guild.

"I wonder...how everyone's at the guild doing… Are they worried about us? Are Wigglytuff, Chatot, Bidoof, and everybody else doing well?" He had tears in his eyes from all the worry. "I m-m-miss them...I want to see them again!"

Piplup also had a somber look on his face. He turned aside from his friend and thought to himself…

 _Poor Chimchar…he's feeling quite down… It's only natural that it happens now, with everything that's transpired so far. It's all so hard to believe that it DID happen. To be honest, pal...I'm scared too._ He had a serious look. _But we can't give up now! If we don't keep moving, those sableye will get us! I need to do something to cheer Chimchar up! But using words of support will seem like false comfort right now… If there was only something I could say...that would offer a glimmer of hope...which we could work towards to… It could be anything! I just need to think of something!_

Piplup turned back to Chimchar.

"Hey, Chimchar!"

"W-what is it, Piplup?" the fire monkey pokémon said, as he wiped away his tears.

"Let's go and find Grovyle!"

"What?! You want to go after him? Wh-why?!"

"I want to know something!"

"You wanted to know something? Oh…I see… Grovyle went to our world from here the first time, so he should know how to travel there. But...isn't he a bad pokémon? Didn't he come to our world to steal the Time Gears? How could I trust anything that he would say? W-what about you, Piplup? Do you trust Grovyle?"

"We _have_ to trust him!"

"But," Chimchar began to reply with anger on his face. "I can't trust him! You know that I can never trust a bad pokémon like that! There's just no way I can trust him! But..." He calmed down and sighed in defeat. "...I understand you, Piplup. I still have no idea why Dusknoir wants to get rid of us. That means the only other pokémon we know here in the future that we can trust…is Grovyle. We have no other choice but to pin our hopes on him."

"Well, I guess that's settled, then!" Piplup said with renewed hope in his eyes. "Come on, Chimchar! Let's go find Groyvle! We'll meet up with him and we'll ask him how we can return to our world!"

"I'm right behind you!" Chimchar had a smile on his face, being reassured for their new plan.

Piplup started to make his way down the hill, but realized that his best friend Chimchar stayed still.

"Piplup, I just want to say thanks..."

The penguin pokémon turned back to Chimchar.

"Thanks? Thanks for what?"

The fire monkey had tears beginning to form in his eyes. He still wore a smile on his face, however.

"For trying to pick me up because I was feeling down. Even though you should be just as scared as I am, pal...I'm sorry.

"I'm sorry, too. I should've told you that I was scared too."

"And even though I have my closest and most precious friend with me…I worried all alone...and almost gave up alone. I should've realized that I wasn't alone."

The floodgates had opened up. Chimchar now had tears streaming down his face from his eyes.

"There, there..." Piplup said smiling, as he and Chimchar approached each other for a hug.

Still bearing a smile on his face, the fire monkey began crying happily onto one of Piplup's shoulders. The penguin pokémon softly patted his best friend's back with one of his other flippers for comfort to try and relieve the pain from the harsh journey in the future that hurt Chimchar greatly. After a few moments, they separated from each other.

"I won't give up anymore!" Chimchar said as he wiped his tears away. "I'll be brave because you're at my side, Piplup! I'm gonna be just fine now!"

"That's great to hear, Chimchar! Now, let's go and get back to our world...together!"

Team Poképals turned back down the hill and made their way off of it.

* * *

Piplup and Chimchar had arrived at an entrance to yet another dungeon. Another Kangaskhan Rock was nearby, so they used it first to stock up on their items once more before they headed into the Sealed Ruin, and to get back to Grovyle.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the pit of the dungeon, Grovyle was nearing his destination of where he and Team Poképals were to go to in order to find a portal to get to the past. He arrived at a dark gray rocky room that had a mysterious rock situated in the middle of the room…

"If I get through here," Grovyle began, "I should be at the forest area. The sableye are still following me, so there's no time to waste." He turned back. "That reminds me… I wonder how those two are doing? Have they eluded the sableye?" He shook his head. "Oh, forget it! This isn't the time! I have to give priority to my own mission no matter what! I vowed to complete it, even if it means making sacrifices!"

He turned around to make his way, but then…

"You there!" a voice bellowed. "STOP!"

Grovyle began turning around the room to find out where the voice was coming from.

"Who's there?!" he exclaimed.

"You are INVADING this place without warning!" the voice bellowed again. "You are DISTURBING our slumber! Are you leaving, without APOLOGY?!"

"W-who are you?!"

"You DARE anger us?! We will expect you to PAY for those insults!"

"Then quit hiding and show yourself!"

"You ACCUSE us of hiding? We do NOT hide. We are...HERE!"

The room suddenly went completely dark!

"We are SPIRITOMB! There is NO MERCY for those who transgress against us!"

Spiritomb began attacking Grovyle without warning, as the wood gecko pokémon cried out in pain…!

* * *

The Sealed Ruin dungeon consisted around 15 floors of mostly steel-type pokémon. Although Piplup had neither advantage nor disadvantage against them, Chimchar could use his fire type moves to a super effective advantage.

* * *

When Team Poképals got to the pit of the Sealed Ruin, they saw Grovyle lying down on the ground defeated. They noticed that a strange purple energy surrounded his body that might be preventing him from getting up.

"Oh no! Grovyle's down!" Piplup exclaimed.

"I'm glad that both of you are here..." Grovyle said weakly, "but be careful in here! An enemy that was responsible for my defeat lurks nearby!"

Piplup and Chimchar looked around in alarm.

"Wh-where is it?!"

"It's right..." The wood gecko pointed to the rock beside the pair. "... _There!_ "

They turned to the rock.

"A-are you sure?" Chimchar asked nervously.

The rock suddenly moved! The pals jumped a few feet back in alarm!

"Ahhhhh!"

Spiritomb spoke from its rock…

"All those who TRESPASS upon this land...will never be FORGIVEN! Not least of all...YOU!"

" **W-who...are...you?!** " demanded Piplup and Chimchar in fear.

"You ask that of US? Our name is...SPIRITOMB. We are the manifestation of a FUSION of spirits..."

Spiritomb showed its true appearance from its rock! A purple round, swirling body had green circles revolving within it, with two green eyes and a mouth making up its face.

"One hundred and EIGHT of them!" it continued.

"Be careful!" Grovyle warned. "That pokémon is strong!"

"PREPARE to take your punishment!"

Piplup and Chimchar got into their battle stances and got ready to do battle with Spiritomb!

* * *

The daunting fusion ghost-type pokémon occasionally shot out waves of purple energy in an attempt to paralyze Team Poképals! It was a good thing when Piplup or Chimchar was, the other movable teammate was able to feed them a heal seed or cheri berry to cure them of paralysis. They would have to use their water and fire type projectiles respectively to bring down Spiritomb!

* * *

After a few moments, the menacing ghost-type groaned in pain, indicating its defeat. The room then suddenly began to shake!

"Wh-what's going on?!" Chimchar nervously said.

All of a sudden, Spiritomb's body went back into its rock! The room stopped shaking, and the purple energy that kept Grovyle on the ground went back into the ghost-type's rock. It turned a few directions for a while, then it bounced out of the room!

Team Poképals could only sweat-drop at this strange sight.

"Man, that was weird..." Piplup said.

"I'm not sure what that was about, either..." Chimchar replied.

"It got spooked and ran," Grovyle said, as he slowly tried to get up.

The pals turned to him and ran towards him to help him back up.

"Are you OK?" questioned Chimchar with worry.

"Yeah," Grovyle insisted, "I'll be fine… Spiritomb was certainly cunning indeed. It went up my nose and took control of my body..."

" **Up your nose?!** " Team Poképals exclaimed. " **Ewwwww!** "

"What a bad pokémon it was!" Piplup said. "Not to mention, gross, too!"

"That's not true," Grovyle insisted. "Spiritomb was probably upset over us trespassing in its space. It was frightening...because it became so angry that it lost control of itself. But you saw what happened when the situation turned sour...it fled. It's normally a timid pokémon. There are many pokémon such as that one here in your future. They _are_ pokémon who should be good...but have become bitter and twisted because of this world's perpetual darkness."

"I see..." Chimchar replied. He quickly bore a sad look on his face. "Good pokémon going bad because of this world...makes me sad."

"Now, will both of you finally trust me?" Grovyle offered.

"Somewhat..."

"We've got no choice!" Piplup said.

"I'll still admit that I don't trust you," Chimchar said, "but I'll have to now."

"Good!" Grovyle responded. "I said it before and I'll say it again… There's no point in continuing together if there's no trust between us." He turned to the ruin's exit. "Come. We're leaving now."

Chimchar stopped him.

"OK, but just so you know, we're only doing this because we want to know as much as we can learn about this whole mess! I know I still don't trust you completely, Grovyle, but...what you said _did_ make some sense. It just seems to be logical. So could you please tell us what you know? More specifically, tell us about this future...and why you came to our world!"

Grovyle spun back to the pair.

"So, what if everything I say is a pack of lies?"

"It's all right," insisted Chimchar. "I won't accept everything you say at face value right away. I'll listen, then decide."

The wood gecko gave it a thought.

"Well...fine. Follow me."

He turned and headed for the exit, with Team Poképals following him...


	15. Secret of the Planet's Paralysis

_**Chapter 15**_

 _ **The Secret of the Planet's Paralysis**_

Team Poképals and Grovyle were hiding from the pursuing sableye, trying to rest, while they tried to assess the situation they were in right now. Chimchar started their conversation…

"Tell us Grovyle… In the future...why did the planet's paralysis take place?"

"First of all, it dates back to your time, in your world of the past. It started with the collapse of Temporal Tower, which was governed by Dialga."

"W-who's Dialga?"

"He is a legendary pokémon who controls time. He ensured the proper flow of time within Temporal Tower itself. But when it collapsed...time gradually got out of control...leading to the eventual paralysis of the planet."

"What happened to Dialga?"

"When time went out of whack, he also lost control. Here in the future now, the planet has become fully paralyzed, and thus Dialga has lost almost all his reason...and is governed by darkness. He's now beyond recognition, and in turn, became an entirely different entity… He has transformed into Primal Dialga, a primordial presence."

"Yikes..."

"Dialga, in his primal state, feels no emotion at all. He seeks only self-preservation, to prevent history from changing. That's why he wants me eliminated, because I tried to change history, to stop the planet's paralysis, and because I traveled back in time to your world from this future here."

" **What?!** " Piplup and Chimchar exclaimed.

"Grovyle, you're saying that you came back to our world," Piplup said, "so you could prevent its paralysis?! But that's...completely the opposite of what we were told!"

"Dusknoir told us that you came back to our world to paralyze the planet...didn't you?!" questioned Chimchar. "Weren't _you_ the one stealing the Time Gears?!"

"You have to be joking!" Grovyle insisted. "I was _collecting_ them because they were needed for preventing the planet's paralysis. I needed to take them to Temporal Tower and put them in place, so that it would have reversed the collapse of Temporal Tower, which was fully under way in your time. While it _is_ true that removing a Time Gear from a specific place causes time to stop in that area...it's only temporary. After the Time Gears are put into Temporal Tower, time would have been fully restored to normal everywhere."

"But...what about all the things Dusknoir said about you, like how he said you were a wanted outlaw in the future? Not to mention, how you escaped from the future...then fled to our world in the past. Are you claiming that it was all just a bunch of lies?"

"What else could it be? That's why Dusknoir is really...an agent sent from this future by Primal Dialga...to get rid of me."

" **WHAT?!** " Team Poképals exclaimed in shock.

"Dusknoir was..." began Piplup.

"...an agent sent to get rid of you?!" finished Chimchar.

"That's right," answered Grovyle. "I _have_ said that Primal Dialga will try to thwart any attempt to alter the course of history. That's why, when he learned that I traveled through time...he sent Dusknoir after me."

"The great...Dusknoir…?" questioned Chimchar in disbelief. "It can't be!"

"I know it's hard for you to believe, but-"

"I _cannot_ believe it at _all_! You're saying all of this about the great Dusknoir?! I don't understand why he's acting this way here, but...I respected...him..." Chimchar had tears in his eyes. "I can't… I can't believe you…"

"It _is_ hard to accept," Piplup said, "but looking back over what we've been through in this future world, what you said, Grovyle, _is_ reasonable. It makes perfect sense." He turned to Chimchar. "And Chimchar, I'm afraid _you_ should know it, too. You should know deep down what Grovyle says here is true, but knowing that makes it that much harder to accept..."

Chimchar suddenly started to make his way back from where they came from!

"Hey!" yelled Grovyle. "Where are you going?!"

"I'm going to see Dusknoir," answered Chimchar, not turning to Grovyle.

" **What?!** " exclaimed both Grovyle and Piplup.

"I want to see him," the fire monkey insisted, "and to find out if what you said is true or not."

"What's the point of that?!" bellowed Grovyle. "You'll only be making it easy for them to destroy you! You don't stand a chance against them!"

"Then..." Chimchar said, turning to the wood gecko pokémon, "...what am I supposed to do?!"

"What are you supposed to do?! Didn't you wonder this earlier?! Not to mention that you decided...that you would decide for yourself! You insisted that, because you don't know what to believe...you wouldn't accept words for their face value...and you'd think for yourself!"

Chimchar could only shake his head in disbelief.

"It's times like this, when things are tough, that you have to be strong. Think for yourself, then act as you deem right."

Grovyle turned around to go the right way, with Chimchar following him, and stopping him for another question.

"Grovyle...what are you going to do now?"

"I'm going back to the past again to stop the planet's paralysis. To do that...I need to find Celebi."

"Cel...Celebi?"

Grovyle turned back to Chimchar.

"That's right." The wood gecko turned all of Team Poképals. "Both of you can come with me or not. It's your choice. You can decide on your own course of action. I'm off."

He turned around again and headed off. Chimchar and Piplup turned to each other for a chat of their own.

"To be honest, Chimchar..." Piplup began, "...I don't know what I should believe either. But there _is_ one thing I can say with certainty… In this future world of darkness...the planet is paralyzed, and its paralysis...happened back in our world. That's why, to stop that from happening..." He had a serious look of determination on his face. "...We have to get back to the past! We _must_ get back to our world!"

"Yes...I know… What Grovyle said...he's right after all… Things are very tough now...we _do_ have to be strong." Chimchar now wore an emotion of renewed hope. "I'm all right now! Let's go and catch up to Grovyle!"

"That's the Chimchar I know!"

Team Poképals turned to where Grovyle was headed to, and followed him,

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the collapsed Temporal Tower, Dusknoir visited his master, Primal Dialga, to brief him on the current situation…

"Master Dialga, the stage has been set for the capture of the traitors. When the time comes...it may be necessary for us to beg for your help..."

Dialga could only growl in response.

"...As you wish. By your leave, we shall proceed."

Dusknoir left the Temporal Tower to resume his pursuit on Team Poképals and Grovyle…

* * *

Piplup, Chimchar, and Grovyle all arrived to a path to a dungeon within the forest area. Piplup, for some reason, had a strange feeling about this place…

 _What was that...strange sensation?_ _I've had it before…_

Chimchar looked around the area.

"Where are we?"

"This is Dusk Forest," answered Grovyle, turning around to the determined pair. "Its name comes from the dark fog that perpetually shrouds it. Deep within this forest is where we'll find Celebi."

"Speaking of Celebi, you've mentioned that name before, but who is Celebi?"

"Celebi is the legendary time travel pokémon. She has the ability to cross time. But...she's a little odd...for me at least." Grovyle shook his head, realizing that he was going off the important topic. "Anyway, her ability enabled me to the past."

"So if we find her," Piplup said, "will we return to our world?"

"Yes," Grovyle answered, "you can go back. But...she's the pokémon that sent me to the past, meaning Celebi has lent her support to reshape history."

Piplup and Chimchar gasped.

"Are you saying that she's in trouble too?!" the penguin pokémon questioned.

"That's right," answered Grovyle. "Primal Dialga is also targeting her. There's no time to waste. Prepare yourselves for the trek inside Dusk Forest so we can find Celebi...fast!"

Team Poképals agreed and went to the nearby Kangaskhan Rock to stock up on their items once more. Once they were done that, they went up to Grovyle to tell him that they were ready.

"It looks like we're all prepared, then," he said. "Let's go inside Dusk Forest to find Celebi so we can return to the past."

The wood gecko pokémon started to make his way into the forest's dungeon, but Chimchar stopped him.

"Wait!"

Grovyle turned to the fire monkey.

"What is it?"

"If the three of us _do_ return to our world...will you steal the Time Gears like you did before?

"Yes...I will. I have to, otherwise the planet's paralysis cannot be stopped."

"But I'm not convinced yet! I don't completely trust you yet! I'm only cooperating with you because I want to return to our world. If we do return, Grovyle...I'll investigate if you really were stealing those Time Gears to prevent the planet's paralysis. If I decide that you're wrong for stealing the Time Gears, I'm going to stop you!"

"Humph! Do as you will, but keep _this_ in mind… What's important now is getting ourselves safely back to your world. So for the time being...focus on getting back home." Grovyle turned back to the entrance of the forest. "Now hurry! We're wasting time!"

He and Team Poképals started making their way, but Piplup stopped for a moment.

 _Now I can feel it. I'm sensing something strange here…_

Chimchar turned to him.

"What's wrong, Piplup?"

"I've felt something strange like this before, I just know it!" The penguin pokémon gave it a quick thought. "That's it! It was when we were at the base camp near Foggy Forest during our expedition!"

The two were interrupted by Grovyle.

"What are both of you doing back there?! Pick up the pace already!"

"This is no time to think about that now, Piplup!" demanded Chimchar. "We need to hurry!"

The penguin pokémon followed his pal into the forest. What they did not know, was that a sableye had been following them all along...

* * *

The dungeon of Dusk Forest was very much straightforward. It had eight floors of pokémon with no main type associated with it. That meant that Piplup, Chimchar, and Grovyle all had different advantages and disadvantages, both offensively and defensively. They all had to help out one another in order to get through the gloomy forest.

* * *

When they got through the midway part of the forest, Team Poképals and Grovyle started to look for Celebi. The wood gecko pokémon worried that if Primal Dialga and the others knew of the place, Celebi would have fled a long time ago. The three pokémon would have to hope that _that_ was not the case.

Grovyle started to call out for Celebi.

"Celebi, are you here still? It's me, Grovyle! Reveal yourself if you're here!"

They waited for a few moments…

"She's...not coming out..." Chimchar said with a somber look on his face. "Did she get scared off by Primal Dialga?" He realized something else that alarmed him! "What if she's been captured by him?!"

"Captured?" an adorable voice called out.

"Wah!" The voice scared Chimchar! "Where'd that voice come from?!"

Everyone looked around for the source of the voice. Team Poképals turned to each other.

"But...I don't hear anything now!" Piplup insisted. "Was I just hearing things?"

"Tee-hee!" the voice laughed. "You didn't imagine it!"

Team Poképals jumped up in surprise.

"Me? Captured?! How insulting! It's impossible, that's for sure! Tee-hee!"

Everyone turned in front to see a magical ball of light form to reveal...Celebi! She was not only a celebi, but rather, a shiny version of the time travel pokémon! Instead of her body being colored green as usual, it was pink.

"It's been too long, my dear Grovyle!" she exclaimed.

"Yes, it _has_ been a while, Celebi."

"What?! _This_ tiny thing here is Celebi?!" questioned Chimchar, seemingly surprised by the pokémon's appearance. She got a little annoyed by the comment.

"Now that is downright rude!" She turned to Chimchar. "How inappropriate of you to poke fun at my petite proportions!"

"Oops! I'm sorry! I h-heard that you have the ability to cross time, thus I expected you to be some awe-inspiring pokémon..."

"How uncouth! Never judge someone by their appearance!" She had a smile on her face. "But...I forgive you. After all...you must find me cuter and more special than you imagined~! Tee-hee~!"

Team Poképals sweat-dropped at this, but they also had red cheeks on their faces.

"Uh...y-yes."

"Celebi," Grovyle said, "I need your help again."

She turned to him.

"I know. Seeing you back here, my dear Grovyle, tells me everything I need to know. You're back because you failed your mission in the past?"

"Unfortunately...that's the case."

"Well, I hope you manage to complete it this time. I've had quite enough of living in this dark and dreary world."

"Sorry to cut the chatter, but the sableye are after us. If we don't leave soon, we'll have brought trouble to you."

"That's quite fine! There's no need to be worried. Let 'em come, they're no concern to me. Besides, if you would be so kind as to prevent the planet's paralysis...we'll finally be spared the agony from this world of darkness. My dear Grovyle, I will devote my whole life to achieve that goal!"

"All right then...where is the Passage of Time?"

"It is nearby and ready!" Celebi turned around. "It's on a plateau above this forest."

"That's good," Grovyle replied. "Can you guide us?"

Celebi turned back to him again.

"Yes! It looks like all _three_ of you are taking the Passage of Time, then!"

"That's correct," answered Grovyle.

The shiny time travel pokémon turned to Piplup.

"Oh?! What's...this? Your friend?"

She looked at him oddly for some reason.

 _What the...why is she looking at me like that?_

After a few moments, Celebi shook her head.

"No...that can't be..."

Grovyle turned to Piplup, then turned to Celebi.

"Is something the matter, Celebi?"

"No...it's nothing. We should just get going to the Passage of Time."

She turned around and the three pokémon followed her.

* * *

Team Poképals, Grovyle and Celebi all had a chat along the way.

"Hey, Grovyle," Piplup said. "what's the Passage of Time?"

"It's a portal that Celebi used to travel through time, and a secret corridor that spans dimensions."

"For short trips," Celebi inserted, "I can travel through time all by myself. However, big trips that span many generations require the use of the Passage of Time."

"So if we were to go through it-" Chimchar said.

"Yes," interrupted Grovyle. "You will be able to return to your time."

"Oh! I see the entrance to another dungeon!" Celebi exclaimed.

* * *

All four pokémon arrived near the entrance to another dungeon within Dusk Forest. This entrance, as Celebi explained it, would lead to the plateau that held the Passage of Time at the end of the dungeon. Like with almost every other stop in the future so far, Team Poképals prepared once again for the trip inside this dungeon by restocking their item supply. Once prepared, everybody made their way in.

This was the deep section of the Dusk Forest. The dungeon itself was loaded with big ground-type pokémon. Like with all other dungeons, they would have to be wary with who was at their weakest when it came to type match-ups, and that their teammates would have to protect them.

* * *

After getting through the dungeon, Team Poképals, Grovyle and Celebi reached the top of the plateau to find the Passage of Time intact but closed, where Grovyle went through to travel to the past. He told the team that Celebi could only open it. Just as she was about to, however…

"Stop there!" the voice bellowed. "That will be far enough!"

Celebi stopped, and her teammates around her were stunned as well.

"It couldn't be..." Chimchar said in disbelief.

"Hello to you all," greeted the voice. "It's been a while."

The four pokémon turned to where the Passage of Time was to see that Dusknoir was blocking their escape to the past!

" **It's him!** " exclaimed Piplup and Chimchar.

"Your scurrying carried you far," Dusknoir began as he approached the group, "but it's all over now, unfortunately."

A sableye laughed, as six of them surrounded the foursome!

"Very crafty of you, Dusknoir," Grovyle said with sarcasm in his voice. "You allowed us to roam free, but you kept your eye on us the whole time...just so you could capture Celebi as well as us."

"What?!" exclaimed Chimchar in shock. "So you mean we were followed the whole time?!"

"That, I could not see coming. This is all my fault, Celebi."

"Apologies don't suit your style, my dear Grovyle!" she insisted. "One more thing, do you honestly think that I can be caught?"

The sableye got close to the group.

"Is everyone here ready to fight?!" questioned Grovyle.

"Of course!" answered Piplup and Chimchar.

"We'll have to force our way through! We'll push them aside...and then we can dive into the Passage of Time!"

"Got it!"

"So, all of you are resisting, then," insisted Dusknoir. "Spare yourself the effort. You have no chance of succeeding."

The sableye got close again.

"We won't know for certain..." Grovyle insisted, "...until we try! Dusknoir, both of us will settle our score _now!_ "

"Are you really a fool to think that I'd come alone, Grovyle?"

The wood gecko pokémon was alarmed, as he turned to Dusknoir.

"Wh-what?!"

"Master Dialga, _now!_ "

The environment around them got dark!

"Ahhh! It turned pitch black!" shrieked Chimchar.

All of a sudden, Dialga's loud roar shook the place! His eyes glowed red, and the light returned, The primal temporal pokémon revealed himself, as he was standing atop a rock over the Passage of Time! He roared again!

"Grovyle! What in the world _is_ that thing?!" questioned Chimchar in fear.

"That's...Primal...Dialga..."

" **What?! That's him?!** " Piplup and Chimchar both exclaimed in disbelief. " **That's Primal Dialga?!** "

"What's wrong Grovyle?" questioned Dusknoir. "Where's your bravado now?"

Grovyle could only grunt in frustration.

"My dear Grovyle..." Celebi said, turning to him.

"This...is hopeless for us now..."

" **What?! Why?!** " demanded Piplup and Chimchar in panic.

"Aren't we going to fight?!" continued Chimchar.

"I told you! It's hopeless!" insisted Grovyle furiously. "Dusknoir on his own is one thing, but we don't even stand a chance against Dialga! Both of you have kept up so well...so I'm sorry to let you down. This, however, is where it ends."

"But..."

Grovyle stepped forward…

"I surrender, Dusknoir. Do away with me...as you will."

"My d-d-dear Grovyle!" Celebi exclaimed in utter shock.

"What's gotten into you, Grovyle?" Dusknoir questioned, mocking his enemy. "It's not like you to give up so easily."

"Yes. It _is_ true that I am giving up now...but hope is still alive." He turned to the shiny time travel pokémon. "Celebi, do you remember the last time..." He turned back to where Dusknoir was blocking the Passage of Time. "...When I traveled back in time to prevent the planet's paralysis? I wasn't alone then. There was another one beside me."

" **What?!** " Team Poképals exclaimed.

"Grovyle, is it true that you didn't come to our world alone?!" questioned Chimchar.

The wood gecko turned to them.

"Yes. I had a partner. We headed to the past together, but when we were going through the Passage of Time, we encountered trouble...and became separated as a result. My partner should still be back in the world of the past. Even if I _am_ eliminated... _he_ will see our mission through to the end. He _will_ prevent the planet's paralysis."

Dusknoir could only laugh in bewilderment as Grovyle turned back to him.

"What's...so funny?" the wood gecko pokémon questioned.

"So you claim that someone went to the past with you… Incidentally, what was the _name_ of your partner? Go on, say it!"

"Why do you ask such a thing?"

"Can you not tell me?"

"No, that's not true… My partner's name is...Leon. My best friend..."

Piplup could only wonder about that name…

"What?! W-who's Leon?!" he questioned.

"Grovyle, who _is_ Leon exactly?!" demanded Chimchar.

Grovyle could only turn around slowly to Piplup…

"No, it can't be… It isn't true!"

The wood gecko thought about the time when Celebi first saw the penguin pokémon. She wondered about him for a moment then, so Grovyle found it to be strange that time. But now...his worst fear may have been realized, as he turned back to Dusknoir...

"Dusknoir, that human, Leon, that I knew then, wasn't a pokémon...right?!"

"Yes, but when I saw that piplup there in the past, I could recognize his voice. That, without a doubt...is your partner..." The gripper pokémon turned and pointed to Piplup. "...Leon!"

" **WHAT?!** " Team Poképals, Grovyle and Celebi all said.

The three pokémon beside Piplup were in utter shock and disbelief at discovering his real name, as they all turned to him.

"Grovyle, is...is my name really...Leon?" Piplup slowly questioned.

"I...am afraid so..." The wood gecko reluctantly confirmed the piplup's real name.

That very same piplup that he tried so hard to get back to the past, along with himself and Chimchar, was indeed Leon...the former human boy who was turned into a pokémon.

"Ahhh...I see that both of you have finally reunited at last! How touching!" Dusknoir said with sarcasm apparent in his voice. Everyone turned back to him, as he turned serious once more and continued…

"Now as I was saying… Master Dialga had given me a mission to eliminate you, Grovyle and Leon, because both of you fled to the past. I traveled in time to pursue you both. In the past, I gathered intelligence that might help me find you. It took several days to do so, but eventually, I met Team Poképals. At first, I suspected nothing of them, but when they mentioned the Dimensional Scream, I was skeptical at first...then an idea began to take shape in my mind… A former human, with no memories, even of his own name, and one who possessed the Dimensional Scream, is what made me convinced to believe that that same piplup I saw back then had to be Leon, the very same boy that I'd been seeking! He developed amnesia when he and you, Grovyle, were in that time travel accident! Leon even lost all memories of his name and transformed into a pokémon as a result of that accident alone! Despite that, his memory loss was really a lucky stroke for me! He failed to recognize who I was, and thus, in turn, made it very easy to win over his trust. It was also easy to drag him and Chimchar to the future when the time came!"

"Y-you were really lying, Dusknoir!" Chimchar replied with tears in his eyes.

"Which left you, Grovyle...the last part of the job to finish."

The wood gecko stayed quiet, while Leon the piplup had a thought to himself.

 _I...was a human from the future…? And I was Grovyle's partner on a mission to prevent the planet's paralysis...and ended up in Chimchar's world?_

"With the both of you here, Grovyle and Leon," Dusknoir said, "everything will end when we finally dispose of you. This will finally put an end to your glimmer of hope, Grovyle! Everything ends, for all of you here!"

He evilly laughed.

"D-Dusknoir...why..." Chimchar replied sadly. He wiped his tears away and was furious at the gripper pokémon. "Dusknoir, you monster!"

"Ha! Have you finally come to terms with your fate?"

The fire monkey turned to the rest of his foursome group.

"G-Grovyle! Pip- uh, Leon! Don't give up!"

"We shall be rid of you forever!" Dusknoir announced. "This is the end...for _all_ of you!"

The sableye laughed as they approached the four again, readying their claws!

"P-please Pip- uh, Leon and Grovyle!" urged Chimchar. "Don't give up! You just can't give in now!"

"You're saying not to give up…?" Grovyle replied. "What can we possibly do in this bleak situation?"

"We just have to think!"

The sableye got even closer…

"I know!" Chimchar finally got an idea as he turned to Celebi. "Celebi, can your time travel ability transport us just the short distance into the Passage of Time?"

She turned to the fire monkey.

"Yes, but it won't be easy with Dialga here! He's the temporal pokémon that controls time itself, and even if I can make us travel in time, he'll have no trouble exposing it!"

The sableye got closer again…!

"It just has to work for an instant!" Chimchar said. "Please, do it!"

"Enough! Attack them at once!" Dusknoir ordered the sableye.

They laughed in approval.

"OK, then, time to travel!" Celebi announced.

She emitted a bright light, as suddenly, the foursome vanished from sight!

"Wheh-heh?" a sableye laughed in confusion.

They looked around for them…

"They v-v-vanished?" Dusknoir was also in disbelief. He turned to Primal Dialga. "Master Dialga, don't let them escape!"

Dialga roared as loud as he could! His tail went up, emitting energy from there. His gem on his stomach also glowed red, as he roared again to break up Celebi's attempted time travel! She and the other three pokémon appeared again, but closer to the Passage of Time as the looked at the portal itself!

"Ahhh!" Chimchar shrieked. "Our time-traveling path's been shattered!"

"There they are!" Dusknoir said to his sableye henchmen.

"We almost made it to the Passage of Time!" Chimchar announced.

Celebi turned to the three.

"Dive in now! You can make it! Get into the Passage of Time, _now!_ "

"What about you?!" questioned Leon.

"Don't worry about me! I've told you I can't be caught! Go and stop the planet's paralysis...and change history!"

"Thanks!" Grovyle said.

"Thank you, Celebi!" Team Poképals said.

"You're not getting away!" Dusknoir announced.

Leon, Chimchar, and Grovyle made their way into the Passage of Time, while Celebi unleashed a blinding light on Dusknoir and the sableye, blinding them again! Once the blinding light vanished, she disappeared from sight once more, as the portal to the past closed up!

Dusknoir and the sableye could only watch in disappointment, as they let their escapees get away.


	16. A New Dawn

_**Chapter 16**_

 _ **A New Dawn**_

Grovyle, Chimchar, and Piplup, whose real name was revealed to be Leon during the close encounter with Dusknoir, Primal Dialga, and the sableye minions, were back at the world of the past. The beach itself moved, as time within the area, and that of Treasure Town and Wigglytuff's guild, was still flowing smoothly. The beach still had waves of water splashing onto the sandy surface, the sun still shone brightly with the blue sky, and the palm trees still blew from the wind. Leon the piplup was the first pokémon to wake up. He looked around to see if he and the others returned to the past.

 _This must be the past…_

Leon turned to see that his best friend of the past, Chimchar, was groaning in pain a bit, but he managed to get up and turned to him.

"Is this...where I met you, Piplup, I-I mean Leon? It's like...that beach… That might mean…!" He finally realized that were back from the dark future. "It _is_ true! We _are_ in the past! We made it back to our world!"

Team Poképals ran to each other to give each other a hug, while they hopped around in circles, laughing in joy. A few seconds later, they heard Grovyle groaning. They separated from the joyous hug and turned to him, as he got up.

"Hey, Grovyle!" Leon said.

The wood gecko turned to him and Chimchar, as they approached him.

"Look! We made it home! We made it back to our world!"

"So...we did it?" questioned Grovyle. "I guess so...we made it back."

"Yup!" Chimchar said. "This is where I met Pip- I mean Leon! Boy, I'm gonna have to get used to calling him that!" He and the others laughed for a bit, then the fire monkey pokémon looked around for the spot on where he met his best friend from the future. "Let's see..." He found the spot, and went over there. "It think it was riiiight _here_ , where I met him." He turned back to the two. "This is where I found you out cold, Leon."

"So that's what happened," replied Grovyle. "That trip through time, meanwhile, sent me into the Eastern Forest. That's why Leon and I both reached your world far away from each other."

"Oh, that's right!" exclaimed Chimchar. "There's a lot I don't understand, like the whole concept of time travel! Will you please explain it to us?"

"Not right now," Leon insisted, "this isn't really the place to talk."

"You're right! We'll go to Wigglytuff's guild and talk there." Chimchar turned to Grovyle. "Before we went to the future, Grovyle, Leon and I trained and lived there. It'll be the perfect place! Let's go over there!"

He started his way toward the guild, but Grovyle stopped him!

"Hold on!" Chimchar and Leon turned to the wood gecko. "Will I be well received if I go there? After all, I'm a wanted outlaw in _this_ world. If I went to the guild...won't everybody be shocked that I'm back, and that they'd try to capture me then?"

"Whoa!" Chimchar exclaimed in realization. "Come to think of it, you're right! What should we do, then..." He thought for a few moments. "Oh, there's a good place I know we can go to, but it'll involve going through Treasure Town..."

"It shouldn't be a problem though if we lie low and sneak through," insisted Grovyle. "Lead the way."

"OK, this way!"

Leon and Grovyle followed Chimchar.

* * *

After the three pokémon managed to avoid rousing attention in Treasure Town by sneaking through as promised, they arrived at the base of a cliff.

"This cliff is known Sharpedo Bluff," Chimchar said. "The name comes from the fact that the cliff itself is shaped like a pokémon named sharpedo. As far as I can tell...nothing seems out of the ordinary."

They followed him to a big patch of grass, and he removed it to reveal a stairway leading downstairs.

"The place where I lived before I joined the guild is down here. Let's go in."

They did as they were told, and followed Chimchar into the hidden home within the Sharpedo Bluff.

Chimchar's home in Sharpedo Bluff was one room that had a natural spring for drinkable water, some barrels to put some things in, and a few plants for decoration purposes. It was shaped like a hollow chamber, located at the face of the cliff. Chimchar was relieved that nobody had damaged his home or came here, proving how little the place attracts. He suggested that he, Leon, and Grovyle stay there for the time being, to which they agreed on.

* * *

Later that night, they set up a campfire in the middle of the room, while they were sitting on their respective straw beds. They discussed about Leon's origins, and how he turned into a piplup.

"I just never expected you to be the very same Leon when I first met you," Grovyle said.

"Can you tell us more about that, Grovyle?" questioned Chimchar.

"Yes. Leon and I...jointly investigated the planet's paralysis."

"A pokémon and a human paired together, now that's almost unheard of..."

"Yeah, but that's the truth. Leon had...or has...a special ability like no other. We relied on his ability alone to investigate the planet's paralysis, playing a vital part as a result."

"By special ability...you mean the Dimensional Scream, don't you?"

"Exactly. But it has a drawback, meaning it requires the presence of a trusted pokémon partner. Without that partner, the ability cannot be triggered. That's why he and I worked together to enable that ability. The Dimensional Scream is set off by triggers tied to places where the Time Gears are hidden. We needed to find out where they were in the past, so we relied on the Dimensional Scream to accomplish that."

Chimchar realized something. "Wait a minute! You said that there has to be a trusted partner nearby for it to work…"

"...but the Dimensional Scream was being triggered not long after Chimchar and I met!" Leon inserted.

"That just shows how much both of you trusted each other from the start," insisted Grovyle.

"When you say it like that, it's kinda embarrassing!" Chimchar said.

"In addition, Leon developed amnesia. When he met you, Chimchar, he had someone to turn to...perhaps he grew to trust you very quickly because of that."

"There's something else I don't understand! Is the Dimensional Scream triggered in response to only Time Gears?"

"Right. The opposite is also true. It isn't triggered in places not connected to Time Gears."

"Hmm...really? That's not how I remember it..."

"He's right!" Leon said. "The Dimensional Scream also went off that time during our encounter with Drowzee, during our first exploration, and many other times, too! Those events seem to have nothing to do with Time Gears, yet the Dimensional Scream got triggered other ones like that, too!"

"Are you sure?" questioned Grovyle. "That never happened in the future, though! The Dimensional Scream was never triggered by places that had no ties to Time Gears whatsoever. If that's true, well…I don't know why it would work differently here. Perhaps things are just different in this world, and perhaps the nature of the Dimensional Scream is altered in the past."

"So in the future, it doesn't work in places that have no connection to Time Gears? That might explain why the Scream didn't work when Chimchar and I got near a frozen waterfall in the future, and I tried to touch it that time. Maybe I couldn't envision anything then when we were in the future, because we were in a place not related to a Time Gear! Maybe that's why my Dimensional Scream failed to work! Maybe you're right, Grovyle, about the future and past being different, or at least different enough to make my Dimensional Scream ability work differently."

"That might be true, but anyway...like I was saying Chimchar, we were investigating the planet's paralysis. We used the Dimensional Scream to identify the locations of the Time Gears in your world while we were in the future."

"Wait!" Leon said. "That voice that I could only hear in some of my visions I had sounded like your voice, Grovyle! I get it now! It definitely was you that talked to me for the locations of those Time Gears to look for in the past!"

"That's right. After we identified them, we took the Passage of Time that brought us from our world in your future to this world, Chimchar. However...we encountered turbulence while we were traveling through time, thus Leon and I became separated. For some reason, he got amnesia and turned into a piplup like he is right now. I can only guess that it had something to do with our accident while traveling in time."

"So I came from the future, then..." Leon said. "And not just that, I came with the mission of preventing the planet's paralysis! When I think about it though, I just don't know… It seems so outlandish...like it doesn't feel real, somehow..."

"So, Leon," Grovyle said, "you may not remember any of this, but you were my closest friend. I remembered that you told me that Piplup was your favorite pokémon, and that you wore a set of clothes to resemble its appearance. From what I've seen you wear, it almost looked like a costume. Although your appearance had changed to completely look like a piplup, and though you have lost your memory...you're still you. None of this alters the fact that you remain my friend. I'm very grateful to see you again, Leon."

Leon himself, however, felt no bells ringing in his head to remind him of his lost friendship with Grovyle.

After a brief pause, the wood gecko pokémon resumed their talk.

"Now we must decide on our course of action. Like I've told you before...I'm going to collect the Time Gears again. What are both of you going to do, though?"

"First of all," Chimchar said, "I'm a little worried about how time stops in the region where its Time Gear is removed. Are you sure it'll only be temporary?"

"Correct. As soon as the Time Gears are set in place at Temporal Tower, time will be restored to its normal state everywhere."

"OK! It's decided, then! We'll go with you too, Grovyle. Taking a Time Gear will badly affect the pokémon living in that area...but we have to prevent the planet's paralysis!"

"OK, then. We'll go together, but for now, it's getting late. We're exhausted from all the running we've done. We'll rest tonight, then we'll leave in the morning."

Leon and Chimchar agreed, and the three pokémon laid down on their respective beds to sleep.

* * *

Early morning arrived, but the sun did not rise just yet. The night sky still remained at Sharpedo Bluff, as Grovyle got up to notice his old friend Leon was still sleeping, but Chimchar was not in his bed. The wood gecko pokémon must have thought that the fire monkey was anxious to get the day started, so he went upstairs to find that Chimchar was standing near the edge of the cliff to take in the view. He went close to him and started talking.

"What's wrong?" Grovyle said. "Can't sleep?"

"Yeah. Just thinking," Chimchar replied as he turned to him.

"Thinking about Dusknoir, still?"

"No, that's not it. Sure, finding out that we were being deceived came as a total shock, but after hearing your story earlier, Grovyle...it really drove it home. What Dusknoir said in the future really was true, after all. It made me realize that my closest friend Leon _really_ did come from the future. I was busy mulling over things like that..."

Chimchar looked away from the cliff, and to where Treasure Town was, above its skyline.

"Look, Grovyle! The sun's rising!"

The wood gecko turned to see the sun indeed rising from the mountains. Daylight had arrived.

"It's pretty, isn't it?" Chimchar said.

"Yes, it is..." answered Grovyle.

"Maybe it's because we were in the future for so long...but I didn't think that a sunrise could ever feel so renewing! The sun rises...then it sets. It's only natural that we take that for granted, but things like those we take for granted are the most essential and precious things we can ever have."

"All I'd ever known is the future's world of darkness...but upon coming to this world...and seeing the sun for the first time...is staggering. Seeing it now strengthens my resolve to turn history away from a future of darkness." Grovyle turned to Chimchar. "There is one more thing I wanted to ask you, Chimchar."

The fire monkey turned to him as he continued.

"It's about that time in the future when we were confronted by Dialga… Frankly, we were in a no-win situation with no hope on our side. But when all seemed lost...you refused to give up. Even I had given up. What compelled you...to continue staying strong?"

"I wonder too… I really don't know..." Chimchar turned to the ocean. "But maybe...it was because Leon stood by me."

"Leon…?"

Chimchar turned back to Grovyle. "Take a look at this."

He removed his necklace containing the Relic Fragment to show it to the wood gecko pokémon.

"What could this be?" questioned Grovyle. "There's an odd pattern inscribed on it. It's all new to me..."

"It's my Relic Fragment," Chimchar answered, "my personal treasure. I have this dream of one day solving the mystery behind it. But I was such a coward back then...I couldn't work up the courage to go to the guild and apply as an apprentice. It was then...that I met Leon. He gave me all the courage I needed so that I can feel like I could overcome any challenge. That's how I came to feel over time, and maybe that's why I was able to keep going without giving up!"

"...I see. I think I understand what you're saying. He's got a special quality that makes others feel that way. The same way that I cared for Leon as a friend, you too, Chimchar, must also feel the same way about him."

The fire monkey, with a wide smile on his face, nodded in agreement.

"He's lucky to be blessed with a friend like you..." Grovyle continued.

They paused for a moment without talking. Later, the wood gecko pokémon continued their talk.

"Well, it's morning. We should be leaving soon."

"Yup. We'll go wake my best friend up now."

Grovyle gave back the Relic Fragment to Chimchar who put it around his neck, and the two went back downstairs.

* * *

Hours later in broad daylight at Chimchar's home in the bluff, Leon was awake, and Grovyle briefed Team Poképals on their crucial objective for today. They all agreed to collect all of the Time Gears, but they had to decide which one they would get first. They opened the team's Wonder Map, and pointed to the spot where the trees were on the northeastern part of the Grass Continent. The area there is called Treeshroud Forest, and it was where Grovyle initially took the first Time Gear in his prior attempt to collect the rest of the Time Gears. It was quite far from Treasure Town, the guild, and Sharpedo Bluff, but they since no one like the lake trio of Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf guarding the Time Gear at Treeshroud Forest, they had little choice but to agree on it. Leon and Chimchar packed up their things for the journey, and followed Grovyle out of their temporary home within the bluff.

* * *

When the three pokémon arrived at the entrance of Treeshroud Forest, Grovyle noticed that the atmosphere somehow felt different from the last time he was collecting his first Time Gear here. Heeding his warning about that specific possibility, Team Poképals stocked up on their item supply from the nearby Kangaskhan Rock, before they headed into the forest's dungeon.

The dungeon of Treeshroud Forest had twenty floors of mostly psychic-type pokémon, which would trouble the water, fire, and grass type trio by very little. This was beneficial for their crucial race to collect all the Time Gears for them to save the world from paralysis.

* * *

At the end of the dungeon, Team Poképals and Grovyle were deep within Treeshroud Forest. They were alarmed that time was _still_ at a standstill within the area itself. Trees blowing from the wind were frozen in time, along with plants, the grass, the dewdrops, and the wind itself.

"Grovyle, just before we were dragged off to the future with you," Chimchar began, "didn't Uxie and his friends make a promise to return all the Time Gears back to their rightful places?"

"Yes," Grovyle answered, "but time remains stopped here..."

"That might mean..." said Leon, "...that the Time Gears may not have been returned to their rightful places yet."

Grovyle turned back to the team.

"We'll have to see about that, and find out if the forest's Time Gear is over there."

He turned back to the front and went to the location of the Time Gear, with Leon and Chimchar following him. When they got there, they discovered that the Time Gears had indeed been returned by the lake trio.

"The Time Gear has returned here after all," Leon said, "but time here still appears to be stopped. The wind's not blowing, and the leaves are fixed in place!"

"Yeah!" replied Chimchar. "The Time Gear's back to its rightful place...but why is _this_ happening?!"

Grovyle gave it a little thought, but ignored it as he went up to the Time Gear to take it from its pedestal! Team Poképals seemed to be alarmed by his action, as the pedestal itself stopped glowing green, and the light in the area went dark.

"Hey!" bellowed Chimchar in alarm. "What are you doing?!"

Grovyle turned to him.

"Time has already stopped here, so it won't make any difference if I take the Time Gear now." He turned to where the Time Gear was. "There's also...something that's more worrying."

"M-more worrying?" questioned Chimchar.

"Forget it, let's leave," responded Grovyle. He turned to Chimchar again. "Also, Chimchar...there's something I'd like you to do."

"What is it?"

"Before you go back to Sharpedo Bluff...I'd like you to gather some information to Treasure Town."

"Gather information...in Treasure Town?"

"Yes. Here's what I want you to find out… Learn everything you can about what's happening in this world right now."

"OK. I'll go find out."

"Everyone will still think that you've gone to the future, however..."

"Yes, I understand. If they found out I'm back, there _would_ be an uproar, so I'll keep low and get some news."

"Good. I'm counting on you."

Team Poképals and Grovyle made their way out of Treeshroud Forest.

* * *

Later back at Chimchar's home in Sharpedo Bluff, Leon and Grovyle waited for Chimchar to return. He had promised to the wood gecko that he would gather vital information on what was happening around the world, while keeping a low profile so that he would not raise any suspicion.

"I hope my pal's doing well..." Leon said.

"Me too..." Grovyle replied.

Just then, Chimchar arrived from the stairway. They turned to him.

"I'm back! I've got some news, just like you wanted, Grovyle."

"What's the word?"

Chimchar had a somber look.

"...It's not very good. After we went to the future… Uxie and his friends returned the Time Gears to their rightful places. Everybody was happy because they thought time would return to normal...but the time remained stopped in those places. Even worse, it's spreading. Time is stopping in more places."

Leon and Grovyle were understandably alarmed at the news.

"Is that true?" they both said.

"Yes," answered Chimchar. "Everyone's upset and concerned because no one can figure out what the problem exactly is. Do you know what this means, Grovyle?"

The wood gecko pokémon gave it a careful thought, then he answered.

"If time is stopping in a spreading area...it can only mean one thing. Temporal Tower is starting to collapse."

"It's...collapsing?"

"Correct. Temporal Tower gives structure to time. If it _is_ starting to collapse...time itself will collapse in ever-widening areas."

"Oh no!" exclaimed Leon. "This is very bad!"

"Yes," replied Grovyle. "The problem is accelerating. The planet's paralysis is coming on fast."

"Then we have to hurry!" insisted Chimchar.

"That's right. If we don't hurry, the planet will become completely paralyzed. There's only one way to stop the destruction of time now...gather the remaining Time Gears, and put them in place at Temporal Tower where Dialga lives. There's one problem, though...the tower itself is located in a place called the Hidden Land. As the name suggests...no one knows where the land is."

"But...there isn't any time!"

"Correct. That's why I think we need to split up for now. I'll go collect the Time Gears, while both of you will search for the Hidden Land."

" **Understood!** " both Leon and Chimchar said.

"OK then," Grovyle said. "Both of you are now in charge. The Hidden Land is supposedly somewhere in this world, unfortunately, there are no clues as to where it is exactly. Considering that nobody discovered it yet...we should probably assume that it's quite far away. We must even consider crossing the sea, and discover the means to do so!"

"Cross the sea, huh..." Chimchar said.

"I'm sorry that I don't have knowledge about how to do that, but I'm counting on you to find out! I'm off now to gather the Time Gears. Good luck."

Chimchar moved aside so Grovyle could leave up the stairs, and out of the bluff's home. The fire monkey turned to Leon, who in turn paid attention to him.

"OK, Chimchar!" Leon said. "We gotta do some searching too! Let's go find the Hidden Land!"

"Yeah, but..." Chimchar replied, "...where do we begin looking for it?"

"Let's consider how we can cross the sea first!"

Team Poképals went up the stairs and left Sharpedo Bluff.

* * *

Leon and Chimchar later arrived at the beach outside of Treasure Town. They looked out towards the sea to wonder how they could cross the sea itself. They thought for a few moments, but were unable to come up with an idea of doing so. They turned to each other.

"...This is hopeless..." began Chimchar. "We just can't come up with a way to cross the sea..."

"Yeah," Leon said. "We agreed to search for the Hidden Land, but...where should we start looking? There's very little time! We've just got too little information to go on!"

"If we can't get that information, our planet will become paralyzed soon! We just have to stop that happening, somehow!"

Leon turned away from Chimchar and gave it some thought.

 _We'll need everybody's help from the guild…_

He turned back to him.

"What are you thinking now, Leon?" questioned Chimchar.

"Let's get back to Wigglytuff's guild!" answered Leon.

The fire monkey jumped up in alarm.

"What?! You wanna go back there?! Wh-why?! We vanished right in front of everybody, remember?"

"Yes, but everyone could still be worried about us! They need to know that we're OK!"

"I guess that's true… I miss everyone too...but after everything that we saw in the future...about Grovyle...and Dusknoir...and even about your past, Leon… If we tell it all to the guild, how will they believe us?!"

"They _will_ believe us! I _know_ that they will!"

"Well...you may say that, but...is there any chance that they'll believe us? After all, everyone in this world is still convinced that Grovyle is the villain, and Dusknoir is the hero, right? They even think highly of Dusknoir, still! I saw the future...but I still didn't want to believe the truth about him. Even if we _were_ to tell everybody the truth, I wonder if they would be able to accept it."

Leon gave it a careful thought.

"...It's true. What you're saying is true, Chimchar. Maybe no one will believe us if we tell them the truth, but...we have to tell them anyway!"

The fire monkey jumped in alarm again.

"What?! Wh-why?! They might not believe us, but should we tell them anyway?"

"Yes! We _have_ to tell them!" Leon replied with a tone of urgency.

"Why though?!" questioned Chimchar. "Why do you think so?!"

" **We need everyone's help!** "

Chimchar, alarmed by Leon's loud but urgent tone on his last response, thought about his best friend's suggestion.

"...OK. I understand. We _cannot_ find the Hidden Land on our own, so we _do_ need everyone's help for that. If we don't get their help...we'll run out of time to prevent the planet's paralysis."

He turned towards the sea away from Leon for a moment, then he turned to him again.

"...You're right, Leon! It's a tough choice for us, but it's the right one! Let's get home to Wigglytuff's guild!"

The piplup had tears in his eyes while he smiled.

"Thank you so much for agreeing with me, Chimchar!"

Leon ran to Chimchar to give him a hug. The fire monkey was caught off guard a bit, but he smiled and returned the favor by appreciating it. After a few moments, they separated from their hug.

"Now let's get back to the guild and tell everybody the truth!" Leon said. "I'm sure that they will be shocked about it, but I know they'll understand!"

"You're right, pal! Let's go, then!"

Team Poképals made their way off the beach and towards the guild. They know that they would have a lot of explaining to do to their fellow members, but they knew it would be the only way to take one step closer to stopping the planet's paralysis.


	17. Guild's Crew

_**Chapter 17**_

 _ **The Guild's Crew**_

With the sun setting for the day, Team Poképals was at the entrance of Wigglytuff's guild, a place where they were away from for a long time ever since being unwillingly dragged by Dusknoir. They understood that it was an awkward situation to return here, but they had to get in and tell the guild the whole story about Leon, the future, who Grovyle and Dusknoir really were, and everything in between, so that the guild members could understand the danger that the world was in.

"Even though we've been gone from our guild members for a while now," Leon said to Chimchar, "we simply have to go in and tell them the whole truth so we can get them to help us save the world!"

"Right, Leon! We can do this! I'll step up to the sentry grate first so we can get in!"

Chimchar stepped up to the grate as he promised.

"Pokémon detected!" Diglett said.

"Whose footprint?" Loudred replied.

"It belongs to...the f-f-footprint belongs to..."

Diglett sounded to be in disbelief as Loudred took notice.

"What's wrong, Diglett?! Respond!"

Sounds of burrowing could be heard from underneath the ground.

"HEY, Diglett! Where do ya think you're burrowin' off to?"

"That...footprint…belongs to Chimchar!"

" **WHAT?!** " yelled the guild.

Diglett appeared right beside Team Poképals as they looked to him.

"It _is_ Chimchar! A-and Piplup too!"

Leon noticed that the sentry used his old name, but realized he could tell his real name for when they told their story.

"Diglett!" Chimchar said. "Long time no see!"

The gate opened up, surprising Team Poképals, as they turned to the entrance to see the guild members running to them to see if it was really them. They surrounded the two and answered their own question.

"Hey, hey! It's true!"

"Oh my gosh! It really _is_ Piplup and Chimchar!"

"You're both ALIVE!"

"We worried so much about you!"

"I...I...I was...by golly!"

"E-everyone..." Chimchar said, smiling through his tears, as well as Leon, "...we're home!"

Chatot and Wigglytuff came next, as the guild members moved aside to see Team Poképals.

"Welcome home, Chimchar and Piplup~!" Wigglytuff announced.

"Oh man, Wigglytuff," Leon the piplup replied, "it's good to see you too! Have we got quite a story to tell all of you!"

Everybody went into the guild so that Leon and Chimchar could begin telling their unbelievable journey into the future.

* * *

On the floor where Wigglytuff's chamber and Team Poképals' room was, Leon and Chimchar were telling the guild about their entire journey in the dark future. They told them, more importantly, that Dusknoir was in fact evil, working for a corrupted version of Dialga in his primal form, and that Grovyle was in fact only taking the Time Gears to place them on top of Temporal Tower to prevent the planet's paralysis. They also told them that Piplup's real name was Leon, since Dusknoir, and Grovyle, his old friend, both recognized his voice. Understandably, the whole guild was shocked at all of those revelations.

"...What?!" Chatot said, flapping his wings in alarm. "What was that again? Just...hold on for a moment! Let me get this story straight!"

"OK." Chimchar agreed.

"Now, let me summarize your story so far… First...Grovyle is actually a good pokémon? He was collecting the Time Gears to save the world?"

"Yup!"

"And the great Dusknoir only pretended to be kind and helpful, as he's really a heinous and wicked villain?"

"Yeah...though I didn't really phrase it that way..."

"Also, Piplup, whose real name is Leon, was really Grovyle's partner, _and_ a former human?"

"Yup."

"So Dusknoir wanted to get rid of both Pip- excuse me, Leon and Grovyle, and took them to the future?"

"Yes. And me too."

"Then both of you, and Grovyle too, managed to escape from Dusknoir by the skin of your teeth, and barely made it back home from the future?"

"Yes."

"And finally, this planet will soon be paralyzed...and to prevent that...Grovyle has started gathering Time Gears again, and meanwhile, both of you here and looking for a place called the Hidden Land? Is that your story in its full entirety?!"

"Yup! That's all of it!"

Chatot gave all of Leon and Chimchar's story a careful thought, then he laughed in bewilderment.

"Chimchar and Leon...both of you must've had a bad dream or something!"

"What?!" they both exclaimed.

"Why don't you just go to your room and get some rest~?"

"W-wait a second!"

"You think we're lying?" questioned Leon. "All of what we told you _is_ true!"

"I'm sure...I'm sure...~" Chatot answered, though it seemed he didn't care. "I'm sure both of you are suffering from exhaustion! A good sleep will fix that~!"

"That's not it, Chatot!" insisted Chimchar. "Honestly, we're telling you the truth!"

Chatot flapped his wings in anger, appearing to lose his patience.

"That's quite enough! Tell me if any part of your story is even remotely plausible! I understand that the piplup's true name _is_ Leon, _and_ that he was a former human, but a place called the Hidden Land?! I'm the head of intelligence here, and I've heard of no such place! Besides, the great Dusknoir is far too kind to do anything like you've alleged!"

"Well, yes, I couldn't believe the truth about him either… It just came as a huge shock...it was really hard to accept. But…!"

Chatot angrily flapped his wings again.

"I'll hear no more of this! I don't give a squawk to what you said! The great Dusknoir, the villain?! It's simply unbelievable!" He turned to the other guild members. "Seriously, don't all of you feel the same way? How can all of you seriously think of the great Dusknoir as a villain?!"

"We hold him in high esteem," Dugtrio said, as Chatot turned to him. "We cannot believe it."

"See?! See?!" The parrot turned back to Team Poképals. "Everyone shares the same opinion!"

"But..." Sunflora began, as Chatot turned to her next, "...there's something I don't understand. That time...when the great Dusknoir was about to return to the future...I thought I saw him _grab_ both Leon and Chimchar to the future with him through the dimensional hole! What Dusknoir did then...was strange, any way you look at it..."

"Do you _really_ think so? Don't you think that Chimchar and Leon _fell_ into the dimensional hole by accident?"

"NO WAY!" Loudred answered for Sunflora, as everyone turned to him. "Dusknoir DID grab those poor kids...and YANKED 'em in!"

"Hey, hey! That's right!" Corphish said, as they turned to him next. "It looked that way to me too! What happened was _really_ weird!"

"Gosh, I really had to wonder why Dusknoir did something like that!" Bidoof said, with everyone turning next to him.

"If..." Chimecho began, while everybody turned to her, "...what Chimchar said is true...then what Dusknoir did suddenly makes perfect sense!"

Chatot seemed shocked by the guild members for backing up Team Poképals' claim.

"What? Wait a minute!" They turned to him. "So is _that_ what you think now? Are you actually saying that you now believe what Chimchar and Leon are claiming?!"

The members gave it a thought, prompting Chatot to flap his wings.

"Well, what's your answer?!"

After a few seconds…

"Uh...I...believe them..." Bidoof slowly answered, as everyone turned to him.

" **What?!** " Chatot bellowed. "What did you say?! So, Bidoof, you're now claiming that the great Dusknoir is a villain?"

"Oof! Golly, I surely did think highly of the great Dusknoir, but the whole idea sounds troubling when you put it that way. There's also something more important here! Leon and Chimchar _are_ the source of that importance! That's why...I believe what they have to say!"

"Wh-wh-what?!"

Leon and Chimchar had a little hint of tears in their eyes. The rest of the guild began to agree with their claims.

"Hey, hey! I believe them too!"

"Me too! They're our guild colleagues, after all!"

"I BELIEVE them!"

"Me too!"

"So do I!"

"Casting doubt on our colleagues is wrong! Trust is a must!"

Chatot simply squawked in disbelief, as Leon and Chimchar sniffed with tears streaming from their eyes, though they still smiled.

"Th-thanks, guys!" Leon said "Thanks for believing us!"

"Well, hiya!" Wigglytuff said. Everyone turned to him. "Sounds like we all agree~!"

" **HUH?!** " Everyone said.

"We all believe our friends! That's great~! We can begin searching for the Hidden Land!"

"Whoa!" Loudred said. "Just hold ON there, guildmaster!"

"What's wrong?"

"We're not ALL in agreement yet, are we?"

"Huh?"

"We're all good with the story..." Loudred turned to Chatot, "...but I suspect that Chatot HERE isn't convinced."

"Is that all~?" Wigglytuff replied. "You don't need to worry about him."

" **HUH?!** " everybody said.

"He _is_ convinced...right?"

" **WHAT?!** "

"Because he believed Team Poképals' story all along!" Wigglytuff turned to Chatot. "Right, Chatot~?"

Chatot turned away from the crowd and could only laugh in embarrassment. The guild members could only stare in amazement at him.

"Well, guildmaster, there's no fooling you. I admit it." He turned back to the crowd with a wide smile on his beak. "Yes, I believed Leon and Chimchar right from the start."

" **REALLY?!** " everybody bellowed.

"But if I would have said that I believed them right away...all of you would've just gone along with what I said." Chatot wore a face of embarrassment. "That's why I was so contrary! I just wanted to put your friendship to the test!"

"Gosh, likely story..." Bidoof replied.

Chatot smiled once again.

"But without a doubt," he said, "I was convinced from the get-go! I knew everyone...would surely believe their colleagues~!"

"Says you..." replied Sunflora.

Chatot could only laugh with tears coming out of his eyes.

Wigglytuff stepped forward to Team Poképals.

"Leon and Chimchar, I believe you! You're my great friends within the guild membership~!" He turned to everybody else. "Now listen, everyone! Time is stopping in more and more places. From Team Poképals' story...we know our world is in danger, which means we have to do something~! This is our time to shine! In the name of my guild...we'll combine all of our efforts to discover the Hidden Land! Let's do this, everybody!"

" **YES, SIR!** " everyone cheered.

Wigglytuff turned to Chatot.

"Chatot!" the guildmaster said, scaring Chatot a bit.

"Y-yes, s-sir?"

"Wrap it up!"

The parrot flapped his wings.

"All right, everybody! From now on, we're shifting all our efforts on locating the Hidden Land! We also have to let everyone else know what is happening in our world, so we'll be busy from now on! We will _all_ have to work hard so we can save the world that we live in!"

The guild agreed with the plan.

"I sure will!"

"I'll putter down to Treasure Town! Hey, that rhymed! Anyway, I'll get the word out!"

"I'll go too!"

"We have to let Azelf and his friends know too! If they're back at their lakes, they may try to stop Grovyle!"

"I'll go tell 'em, too!"

"That's what I like to hear!" announced Chatot. "Everybody else, please search for the Hidden Land! As for Bidoof, Sunflora, and others, once your errands are done, gather information on the Hidden Land."

"Yes, sir!"

"We'll hurry!"

"We'll find the Hidden Land together!" announced Wigglytuff. " **YOOM...TAH!** "

" **HOORAY!** " everybody cheered.

The guild members had their say.

"All right! Let's show some GUTS!"

"Hey, hey, hey!"

They were all energized. Wigglytuff, meanwhile, turned to Team Poképals.

"I'm sorry that I don't have any information on the Hidden Land," he said, "but maybe...the wise Torkoal, the town elder, may know something."

"Torkoal the town elder?" Leon wondered.

"That would be the wisest and oldest pokémon of Treasure Town," Chatot answered. "He loves the Hot Spring, so expect to see him there. I'm sure of it~!"

"Oh! I remember! Chimchar and I met him at the end of our exploration of Waterfall Cave! We were launched out of the cave into the Hot Spring, and that's where we met Torkoal! He's that nice old pokémon we met!"

"You should put his years of wisdom to use~!" said Wigglytuff. "Go ask him for advice~!"

Leon and Chimchar turned to each other.

"We should know where Hot Spring is, Leon." Chimchar said. "We'll go there and ask Torkoal if he knows about the Hidden Land and its whereabouts!"

"Right back at ya, pal!"

Chimecho stepped, or in this case, floated forward.

"But first…!" Everyone turned to her. "It's getting late, and besides...all of you must be hungry!"

On cue, Leon and Chimchar's bellies both growled. They turned to each other.

"She's right!" Chimchar said. "My stomach just growled!"

"Ha ha! Mine did too!" replied Leon.

They turned back to Chimecho.

"Let's have some supper and get a good night's sleep first! We'll all get to work tomorrow!"

Leon's stomach growled again as everybody turned to him.

"Man, I'm hungry!"

Everyone smiled and laughed for a few moments. They made their way into the mess hall to have a hearty dinner.

* * *

Later that night, Team Poképals was finally back at their own room. It had been a while since they slept in there. Leon and Chimchar stood on their beds to have a conversation before they headed to sleep.

"Boy, I never thought we'd sleep on our beds again!" Chimchar began.

"Yeah, me too!" Leon replied.

"It's been so long since we've been in our room."

"Yup, it feels as though we're finally home."

"I'm really glad everyone came to believe our story."

Chimchar turned to the window.

"To be honest, it made me emotional!" He turned back to Leon. "It's been an eventful day and I'm tired. We'll go meet Torkoal tomorrow and talk with him."

"Yeah, we'll do that! For now, let's just get some rest tonight, Chimchar. We've earned it!"

"OK, Leon. Good night, pal."

"Good night."

They laid down on their beds and went to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, the guild was briefed on their critical duties today. One half of the guild was told to find the Hidden Land, while the other half would spread the word on convincing everyone in town that Grovyle was good, and Dusknoir was bad. Once they were dismissed, Team Poképals headed to the Hot Spring as promised to go talk to Torkoal.

* * *

Once Leon and Chimchar arrived at the Hot Spring, they went to Torkoal standing at the top of the spring to ask him if he knew the Hidden Land, and where it was.

"Do you know the Hidden Land?' questioned Leon.

"Yes, I have heard of it," answered Torkoal.

"Really?!" Chimchar said.

"Yup! The Hidden Land is truly a place of legend. It is a tattered lore at best, handed down by oral tradition. From what I have heard of, The Hidden Land lies beyond the sea...in a hidden place. The land itself allows only the chosen to find it, and to go there, one must possess certain qualities."

"A place..." Leon began.

"...That only someone with proper qualifications can go to..." said Chimchar.

"What are those qualifications, Torkoal?"

"They are..." He tried thinking of them carefully, but to no avail.

"I'm terribly sorry, but I've gotten those qualifications."

" **Oh no!** " exclaimed both Leon and Chimchar. " **You've forgotten?!** "

"Please, Torkoal!" urged the piplup. "You gotta remember! It's really important!"

"That's easy for you to say, but..." The coal pokémon gave it a thought. "Wait! I got it! You need proof! You need proof of some sort!"

"What kind of proof?"

"That would be..." Torkoal thought again, but was unsuccessful. "Forgive me, but I've forgotten again."

" **What?!** " Leon and Chimchar said. " **You can't remember?!** "

"I'm so sorry to disappoint you both."

Team Poképals could only sweat-drop in disappointment.

"Ugh, all right," Chimchar said. "Can you recall anything else at all?"

"...Nope," answered Torkoal. "That's all. Forgive me, youngsters. If I recall what proof you need, I'll be sure to let you know."

"OK then, Torkoal," replied Leon. "Thanks."

He turned to Chimchar.

"Let's head back to the guild for now, pal."

Team Poképals got off the Hot Spring and went back to the guild.

* * *

Leon and Chimchar, upon returning to the guild, told Chatot and the other members that Torkoal could not provide them many answers about the Hidden Land. Wigglytuff, however, encouraged the team that finding proof was a step in the right direction. The guild members were also unable to find anything that could lead to the Hidden Land, but urged Team Poképals to keep trying to find the answers. For now, everyone needed to rest for the remainder of the day.

* * *

Later that night in Leon and Chimchar's room, they were still disappointed on coming up almost empty-handed on the search for Hidden Land.

"*Sigh*… We're not making as much progress as we'd hoped," Chimchar said. "When we talked with Torkoal, I started thinking we had hope!" He turned to the window. "I wonder how Grovyle's doing? Did he gather the Time Gears? We need to hurry too!" He turned back to Leon.

"Yeah, but there's no point in getting all worked up. Everybody's trying their best to help out, and that's what matters the most!"

"You're right, Leon. Let's get some sleep so we can have a fresh resolve tomorrow!"

"Okay, Chimchar, good night."

"Good night to you too, pal."

They laid down on their respective beds and went to sleep.

* * *

The guild was briefed the next morning by Chatot, who acknowledged that the Hidden Land continued to remain shrouded in mystery, but encouraged the members not to give up. He ordered them to continue investigating today, and everyone was soon dismissed. Just as Team Poképals themselves started to think of their next plan, the sentry duty pokémon alerted the guild that Torkoal himself had come to visit here. He went down to the guild's quarters to provide possible new information on the search of the Hidden Land to Leon and Chimchar, as he has remembered something else from yesterday.

"Yesterday, when I contemplated the waters of the Hot Spring for a long time, one recollection finally surfaced. But...it really is something small. I worry if it would be even worthwhile sharing with you."

"Not to worry~!" encouraged Wigglytuff. "Every little bit of information helps, even if it's small~! Please, say it~!"

Torkoal took a deep breath first, and started to reveal his new piece of information to Team Poképals…

"When we spoke of travel to the Hidden Land yesterday...I said that both of you needed proof of your qualification to go there. I remembered a bit more about that proof. The proof...bears an inscription of a certain pattern."

"A certain pattern?" questioned Chimchar.

"Hey, hey!" Corphish inserted. "What kind of pattern would that be?"

"Er...how can I describe it?" said Torkoal. "It is difficult to describe it...but I can tell you that the pattern is quite intricate and odd. Think of it as a peculiar pattern, one of which you rarely see."

The guild commented on it.

"A pattern you rarely see..."

"You'd think I could think of SOMETHING!"

"But to try and think of such a thing isn't easy when one tries!"

"Hmm...what could it be…?"

 _The kind of pattern you rarely see…_ thought Leon. _What could a pattern like that look like…? A pattern you rarely see...a peculiar...pattern…_

A light went on his head.

"Wait, I got it!" he said aloud. He turned to Chimchar. "Hey, buddy!"

"What is it?" the chimp pokémon said, turning to Leon.

"Remember when I first came here, on the beach? You showed me your Relic Fragment, and I remembered that it had a peculiar pattern on it!"

"Wow! I'll show it to Torkoal, then!"

Chimchar took off his necklace containing the Relic Fragment and went forward to Torkoal.

"Excuse me! Can you have a look at this?"

He gave the fragment to him so that he could examine it.

"Oh! Th-this is it!" Torkoal said. "It's a pattern exactly like this!"

Everybody was amazed by the discovery!

" **WHAT?!** "

"Where...did you get this?" questioned Torkoal to Chimchar.

"I'm not sure...I just happened to pick it up."

"Yippee! This is fabulous!" Sunflora exclaimed. "Since Chimchar has this...thing...does it mean that he's qualified to go to the Hidden Land?"

"That, I wouldn't know," insisted Torkoal. "Maybe yes, maybe no. To go to the Hidden Land, one must surely possess that proof...but that doesn't necessarily mean that the bearer of the proof really possesses the qualification to be...chosen. That proof _may_ be merely the physical key to the Hidden Land. Even before that, though, this shares the same inscribed pattern...but there's no sure connection between this Relic Fragment and the Hidden Land."

"But there's no question that this pattern has _something_ to do with the Hidden Land, right?" questioned Wigglytuff. "Knowing only that is a lot~!"

"I suppose so..." Torkoal had a light go on in his head and turned to Wigglytuff. "Wait! You do realize that the Hidden Land is only a spoken legend, right? You're surely not trying to find the Hidden Land?"

"Yes, we are~!"

"My gracious, what a surprise!"

Wigglytuff turned to Chatot.

"Chatot, we've seen this pattern before somewhere...haven't we?"

Everyone was shocked at this latest revelation!

" **WHAT?!** "

Chatot barely turned to the crowd.

"Y-yes...it was at the sea inlet to the northwest...inside Brine Cave..." He was painfully reminded of something, as he turned back to Wigglytuff. "But, guildmaster! That place…!"

"Yes, I know," Wigglytuff replied. "That vicious bandit was there."

The members once again were shocked.

"A vicious..."

"...Bandit?!"

"Everyone, please listen." Wigglytuff announced, as the guild turned to him. "I once saw this same pattern deep inside a place called Brine Cave. I think we can discover more by taking the Relic Fragment there, but...there _is_ one problem. A pokémon lurks there who is a vicious bandit."

The guild insisted that they were not scared of the bandit.

"Hey, hey, we're not about to let _that_ scare us!"

"Aren't we EXPLORERS?"

"We all have to be brave!"

They cheered.

"Thanks, everyone~!" Wigglytuff announced, as the guild members quieted down. "That place though _is_ challenging, so all of you should take time today to get ready, then tomorrow, we'll set off for Brine Cave!"

" **HOORAY!** " the guild cheered once more.

Torkoal laughed joyfully at their enthusiasm.

"I thought that the Hidden Land was nothing more than folklore!" he said. "Getting old has made my thinking so inflexible, which is very sad when you think about it. All of this makes me remember the days when I dreamt of romance and adventure! Help me see my dreams again, and do your best!" He turned to Chimchar. "Oh, by the way, here's your Relic Fragment."

"Thanks!"

Torkoal gave it back to Chimchar, and the chimp pokémon put it back around his neck. The coal pokémon then turned to the ladder to make his way out, as everybody turned to him.

" **You can count on us!** " Team Poképals announced.

"Thanks, Torkoal!" Wigglytuff said.

The coal pokémon barely turned back to the crowd.

"Oh, it was nothing!"

He turned back to the ladder and climbed up it to make his way out of the guild. Wigglytuff and Chatot turned back to the members.

"OK, everyone!" Wigglytuff announced. "Spend the rest of today getting ready~!"

" **HOORAY!** " the guild cheered.

They spent their time discussing about the preparations to each other.

"Yup yup! We'll go get ready!"

"This'll be so exciting!"

"I can't wait!"

The members, except for Leon and Chimchar, left to get ready for tomorrow's exploration to Brine Cave. Wigglytuff and Chatot turned to each other as Team Poképals watched and listened to their conversation.

"Chatot, you will stay here at the guild tomorrow on standby." the guildmaster said.

The parrot flapped his wings in alarm.

"G-guildmaster! Forgive me if I'm out of line, but please, let me go to Brine Cave with you!"

Wigglytuff shaked his head and had a sad look on his face.

"No! I can't let you face danger like that ever again!"

"But that's why I _must_ go! Please take me to Brine Cave!"

The guildmaster had no choice but to smile and accept Chatot's desperate request.

"...OK, fine. You can go tomorrow, but I want you to go with Team Poképals. Guide them to the place where we saw that strange pattern, and be _extra_ careful in doing so."

"Thanks! I won't let you down!"

"One more thing...I have something I need to do right now, so I must go out. You're in charge while I'm gone."

"As you wish."

Wigglytuff went into his chamber to get ready for his own trip to Brine Cave later on. Chatot, meanwhile turned to Leon and Chimchar.

"So, like you heard from us, both of you will be with me tomorrow. As such, your non-guild members may not come along. Brine Cave will have a vicious foe lying in wait, so don't let your guard down, and don't do anything that keeps me from succeeding there!"

Chimchar reluctantly agreed.

"Oh, all right!"

He and Leon turned to each other.

"Leon, let's go get ready by going to Treasure Town!"

"Right!"

They made their way out of the guild.

* * *

As Leon and Chimchar passed by Torkoal out of the guild, the coal pokémon found himself caught up with none other than Team Skull, the antagonistic team that troubled Team Poképals and their friends many times before. They surrounded him, as he talked about the Hidden Land.

"Wh-who are you folks?!" demanded Torkoal.

"We're Team Skull!" answered Skuntank.

"Did you have business with Wigglytuff's guild, old-timer?" questioned Zubat.

"We overheard you talking about something that sounded fun!" Koffing said.

"Specifically about the Hidden Land, of course!" Skuntank said.

"I...was only..." Torkoal began, but he was grabbed by them!

"Well, why don't you come with us for an explanation, then?" Skuntank insisted.

They grabbed the helpless Torkoal and dragged him away from town!

"Hey! Let me go, you troublemakers!"

No one else heard him though, as the four pokémon went out of sight…

* * *

Meanwhile in Treasure Town, Leon and Chimchar went across many stores to withdraw and deposit money, open treasure chests, buy items, and put some away in the storage in exchange for better ones. When they were done, Chimchar suggested to Leon that they should check Sharpedo Bluff to see if Grovyle had come back. They agreed, and went over there.

* * *

Team Poképals went into Chimchar's home inside the bluff to see that Grovyle, however, had not yet returned.

"He's not here..." Chimchar said.

He and Leon looked around to find a note on the ground.

"Hey! There's a note over there, probably from Grovyle!" the piplup said.

"Let's go and read it then!"

They went over to the note and picked it up. Leon handed the note over to Chimchar, since it was in footprint runes. He read it for a quick second.

"This _is_ a letter from Grovyle!"

"Well, read it and find out what it says!"

Chimchar read from the note.

"'To Leon and Chimchar: How are you doing? How goes your search for the Hidden Land? Things are going well on my end. I've already collected three Time Gears, and need two more, so I can rejoin you when I've collected all five. Plans have proceeded smoothly, as Azelf and his friends understood the situation, and are cooperating at this time. He told me that members of your guild let them know I was coming, so thank you. It's heartening to know that more and more pokémon are coming to trust us, however I will continue to stay away from Treasure Town and the guild. First of all, I'm not certain if the pokémon in this world trust me entirely or not...but there's something even more troubling than that… Dusknoir is liable to return from the future any moment now.'"

"Oh no!" Leon said in alarm. "Not _him_!"

Chimchar turned to his pal.

"Come to think of it, he failed to destroy us in the future. I wouldn't put it past him to chase us here. He still wants us gone."

"Keep reading Grovyle's note for now," demanded Leon.

Chimchar turned back to the note, and continued reading from it.

"'Since he _will_ be coming, we should keep a low profile. This is another reason I should stay away from the town and the guild. I may instead come back to Sharpedo Bluff or the beach. If we can meet, we can then exchange information. Good luck on your end. Together, we _will_ stop the planet's paralysis.'"

Chimchar put the note down and turned to Leon.

"From what it sounds like," Leon began, "it appears that Grovyle's hard at work. We'd better not fail on our end, either!

"You're right, Leon!" Chimchar replied. "According to his letter, he'll show up either here or at the beach. Since he's not here, we'd better go look for him at the beach!"

"Right you are, pal! Let's get over there before we go back to the guild!"

Team Poképals went up the stairs and made their way towards the beach, the only other place indicated by Grovyle's note, to see if he had returned yet.


	18. Lapras

_**Chapter 18**_

 _ **Lapras**_

As the sun was setting, Leon and Chimchar made their way to the beach outside of Treasure Town as they promised in order to find Grovyle after failing to fine him there at Sharpedo Bluff, but he was not at the beach either. Chimchar turned to Leon for a conversation.

"Nope, Grovyle's not here after all," the chimp pokémon said.

He looked around the beach to notice that the krabby that normally blew bubbles around the area were not around.

"Speaking of not being here...the krabby aren't here, either! They always come out here during the evening to blow bubbles. I love seeing their bubbles go floating away in the evening sky. That's too bad. It's a letdown, but take a look at this gorgeous sunset here!"

Chimchar and Leon looked toward the ocean at the sunset above the waters.

"Man, what a beauty!" Leon commented on the amazing sight.

"Yup! It's always beautiful, like it always is," Chimchar replied.

They turned back to each other. Chimchar took off his necklace containing his Relic Fragment and showed it to Leon.

"You know..." the chimp pokémon began, "...it was my dream to solve the secret of my Relic Fragment, but I'd have never guessed that it was connected to the Hidden Land! That reminds me of the time when you arrived here, and where Koffing and Zubat of Team Skull tried to steal my Relic Fragment! I was too scared to get it back, but you gave me the courage to do so, Leon."

"Yeah! That's how we really started as a team! Getting back your Relic Fragment was our team's first adventure. Now, we're using the same fragment to get to the Hidden Land! When we think about it, it's sorta strange, but that's the case. My adventures with you, Chimchar, and our search for the Hidden Land, were all started thanks to this Relic Fragment!"

"By the way, I even remembered that you didn't have your human name at first when we greeted each other for the first time here...but once we found out thanks to the close call with Dusknoir and company back in the future, it got a little strange referring to you as Leon, but that's your real name!"

"Yeah! Speaking of names, I haven't given you one yet. Have you heard of nicknames? They're names that are given to certain pokémon from humans, like me, that have grown so close to each other. Even though I haven't given one to Grovyle yet, I should do so now to you, Chimchar."

"OK, then! What will my new name be?"

Leon thought about Chimchar's new name, his nickname, for their ongoing adventures. After a few seconds…

"Blaze! Blaze is your new name!"

"Blaze?"

"Yeah! Because you're a fire-type pokémon, of course! Do ya like it?"

"Yup! I think it's awesome!"

"All right! Blaze it is from now on, then!"

Leon, and his newly named chimchar pal, Blaze, did a fist-bump in approval. They turned to the sunset again.

"This beautiful sunset here..." Blaze began, "…will be lost if the planet's paralysis can't be stopped."

"Well, we gotta stop that from happening!" Leon replied. "We can't waste any more time finding the Hidden Land!"

The piplup turned to the chimchar to give his Relic Fragment back to him.

"You're right, pal!" said Blaze. "Let's do it tomorrow with a great effort!"

They turned back to the sunset once more.

 _He's right,_ Leon thought, w _e have to try hard. I must complete the mission that I had with Grovyle before I lost my memory. The mission to help the pokémon of this world and those of the future._

Blaze snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Hey, Leon, look!"

"W-what's that?"

An unknown pokémon sailed across the water far from the beach. It was blue, had a cream-colored stomach on its stomach, and had a gray shell on its back with many bumps on it.

"What could that pokémon be?" Blaze said after a few moments. "It looks like it's swimming across the sunset."

"Yeah, it's a little strange..." replied Leon.

They stared at the sunset for a few more moments, then realized that it was getting late.

"It's getting pretty late," said Blaze.

"Yup. We need to get back to the guild now," replied Leon. "I'm getting a little hungry."

"Me too, pal. Me too."

They turned away from the sunset and left the beach. What they did not realize, was that Team Skull was watching them all that time, as they came out of hiding and onto the beach.

"Chaw-haw-haw!" laughed Skuntank. "The krabby weren't around for a good reason! We scared 'em off!"

"But chief," Koffing replied, "that old-timer Torkoal wasn't lying to us, after all."

"That junk we stole back then," Zubat said, "wasn't really that valuable to us until now!"

"So what?" replied Skuntank. "We'll get that Relic Fragment from 'em one way or another! That way, we'll get to explore the Hidden Land ourselves!"

Team Skull laughed in approval.

* * *

Later that night, Wigglytuff arrived near Brine Cave, standing on the edge of a cliff near the water. He saw the blue pokémon that Team Poképals saw earlier approaching him.

"Lapras, long time no see~!" greeted the guildmaster.

"It's been too long, Wigglytuff," she replied. "You look well. Is Chatot doing well too?"

"Yes, he's doing very well~!"

"I'm glad to hear that! I've always meant to thank you. I deeply appreciate the promise you made...and upheld it for all this time."

"Not a problem at all~!" Wigglytuff had a serious look on his face now. "But tonight...I'm here to see you about that promise. Right now, we're finding ourselves in a situation where we can't afford to uphold that promise anymore. I suspect that you know why. Now, please tell me...about that strange pattern we once saw."

They continued their conversation into the night…

* * *

The next morning back at the guild, Team Poképals announced that the name of the chimchar would be Blaze from now on, thanks to Leon giving him that nickname from last evening. Chatot and the others understood, as he briefed the guild. They knew that Wigglytuff had not yet returned from his errand, but the members had to continue their planned trip to Brine Cave as scheduled. Worried about the guildmaster's absence, Chatot urged them to trust him leading the way to the cave itself, to which they agreed on. They trusted him all this time after all. Chatot then showed the guild where Brine Cave was on their map, and they all made their way there.

* * *

When everyone arrived at the entrance of Brine Cave, Chatot briefed the guild once again, this time giving them the objective to reach the deepest part of the cave's dungeon to where the pattern from Blaze's Relic Fragment was. The parrot reminded them once more of the vicious pokémon and its company that lurked within Brine Cave itself, and urged the guild to take extra precautions. Chatot then told the guild that back then at this very same cave, he and Wigglytuff were attacked by those vicious pokémon at the room where they saw the pattern. The parrot took one nasty wave of attacks for the guildmaster, which ended with Chatot being tended to by Wigglytuff. The guild took heed of the story, and went into Brine Cave. Chatot, as he promised to Team Poképals, accompanied them.

As everyone made their way into the cave, all of them were unaware that Team Skull was right behind them…

"Well, chief," Zubat began, "looks like those louts from the guild are already inside."

"Should we follow 'em?" questioned Koffing.

"Sound good to me!" agreed Skuntank. "Let's keep a low profile while doing so, though! When the right times comes somewhere along in the cave, that's when we'll grab that wimpy chimchar's Relic Fragment! We'll hightail it to the deepest part of the cave then, to grab all the glory of solving this mystery!"

"Brilliant, chief!" exclaimed Zubat. "Your plan's perfect!"

"Naturally! It will be us, Team Skull, going to the Hidden Land! Nobody else!"

They laughed in agreement, and went into the cave.

* * *

The dungeon of Brine Cave was filled with water-type pokémon. Like some of the other prior dungeons, Blaze had to rely on Leon, and Chatot for this exclusive trip, to help him with his weakness to the water-types.

* * *

When the reached the midway point of the cave, Team Poképals and Chatot stopped for a rest, and a conversation.

"Chatot," Leon began, "are we nearing the place where you saw that pattern?"

"Yes, we're nearly there. We don't have far to go, however...as I've told both of you before, every step also takes us closer to those vicious pokémon."

"Right," replied Blaze. "We'll have to be on our guard and keep our eyes open. We don't have far to go now, so let's keep it up!"

Just as they were about to leave, Team Skull ran into Blaze! He cried out in pain as they rammed him. Leon and Chatot turned to the group and Blaze.

"Great, it's you again, jerks!" the piplup said to Team Skull.

"Long time no see to you too, weaklings!" replied Koffing.

"You're that team..." said Chatot.

"We're here for that Relic Fragment of yours, Chimchar!" Skuntank said, referring to Blaze.

"First of all, my name is Blaze now, and second, you'll never have my treasure!"

"Too late! Zubat, if you will?"

The bat pokémon flew over to Blaze and snatched his Relic Fragment from around his neck! Zubat handed it over to his boss.

"If I can recall," Koffing began, "this is the second time you're getting mugged for this!"

"You don't learn very well, that's for sure!" said Zubat.

"W-wait, please!" said Chatot in panic. "I'm afraid I'm not following what's going on here! Why are three of you even here? We haven't see any of you, Team Skull, since you suddenly disappeared during the expedition, and I fretted for your well-being!"

"Worried, huh?" questioned Skuntank. "Chaw-haw-haw! Your guild's full of gullible nincompoops just waiting to be fleeced."

Chatot felt offended by the obnoxious comment.

"Your demeanor and language seem to be much coarser now!"

" **You're right, Chatot!** " Leon and Blaze said.

"Team Skull was deceiving the guild all this time!" insisted Blaze. "They're a bad exploration team, and they're a bunch of crooks!"

"Wh-what?!" Chatot said in alarm. "Is that true?!"

"What else?" Koffing replied.

"You'd have to be naive beyond belief to be fooled this long!" insisted Zubat.

"Anyway," Skuntank said, "now that we've got the Relic Fragment, we'll go to the Hidden Land ourselves! Eat dirt, nitwits!"

Team Skull laughed and went ahead in the cave. Leon, Blaze, and Chatot could only watch them for a few moments, as the parrot squawked in anger over what just happened.

"Those stinkin' scoundrels played all of us like fools!" He flapped his wings in disgust. "They won't get away with this! I'll show 'em what it means to trifle with _me_!"

Chatot ran after Team Skull as fast as he could.

"Wait, Chatot!" Team Poképals yelled.

Leon and Blaze turned to each other.

"Boy, he surely was irate that time," Blaze began. "I hope he'll be all right!"

"Yeah," Leon replied, "he warned us about those vicious pokémon lurking ahead, so we'll need to be careful if we run into 'em! Now let's hurry and go get back your Relic Fragment from those Team Skull jerks!"

They turned back to the front and went ahead in the cave.

* * *

After several more floors of battling more water-type pokémon, Team Poképals arrived deep within Brine Cave. The floor's air was unbelievably hot and humid. Leon and Blaze heard groans of pain ahead of them, and went forward to discover that Team Skull had been badly hurt and lying on the ground! They went near them.

"Wh-what happened to you guys?!" questioned Blaze with worry on his face. He then realized who might've attack them… "Wait! Were you attacked by a mysterious band of enemies?"

"You knew it was coming?" replied Koffing. "It would've been good for us to know that..."

"Not that you'd...tell us anyway." insisted Zubat.

Leon and Blaze turned to Skuntank, who took the worse of the attack than his teammates.

"Skuntank!" the piplup exclaimed. "I can't believe I'm about to say this, but...are you all right?!"

"Chaw-haw-haw… You find us at your mercy...and _you're_ worried how we are? How sickeningly generous can you nitwits be?!"

"It's true that I hate you jerks greatly, but at times like this, we're not about to walk away from anyone like you if they're badly hurt."

Skuntank could only laugh.

"You're wasting your concern on us...we'll be fine. That pompous Chatot riled me up enough to keep me goin'!"

" **He did what?!** " Leon and Blaze exclaimed.

"He came along after we got wiped out! When he spotted us down 'n out...he scolded us with all sorts of choice words! When he was done that, he went on his way. I'm still seeing red after all that punishment. I'm so steamed that I refuse to give up here. I'll get outta here if I have to crawl...so I can deliver my payback to that blasted Chatot!" Skuntank calmed down and continued. "But...if you think about it...we were close to giving up, when he saved us by riling us up!"

"But even though you say you've been saved," Blaze insisted, "you look like you're _still_ in a lot of pain."

Skuntank laughed again, not appearing to care for his own pain.

"We've been bad to the both of you all this time. You went through downright rotten times because of us...yet you still bring yourselves to worry about the likes of us?"

"Yes," answered Leon. "You did make us furious over and over, but when we saw you down and out like this...we _cannot_ just walk away."

Skuntank laughed once more.

"W-whatever...just take your Relic Fragment back already!"

He tossed the fragment to Blaze and he quickly put it back around his neck.

"Thanks, Skuntank."

"Humph. Why thank me? The next time we meet, we're gonna be back to our old tricks of messing with ya… Besides, don't waste anymore time worrying about us. Go and help Chatot out...fast."

Team Poképals had serious faces by this realization.

"That's right!" said Leon. "Where did he go?"

"He went deeper..." Skuntank answered, "...to go after those enemies...both of you should hurry up and get to him now!"

"OK, Skuntank, thanks! We'll go after them! You and your team should get out ASAP! Don't give up, you can make it!"

"Humph! I'll ask you to not patronize us!"

Leon and Blaze turned to each other.

"All right then, Blaze! Let's go after Chatot! He might be in trouble right now!"

"Yeah, let's go!"

Team Poképals went ahead in the deep part of Brine Cave.

* * *

When Leon and Blaze finally caught up to Chatot, they noticed him standing in place.

"Chatot, there you are!" they said.

He turned to the team, wearing a serious face.

"Quiet, you two! Those vicious pokémon are very close by! I saw their retreating figures when I gave chase...but I'd lost sight of them by the time I reached this spot. They _must_ be lurking here somewhere."

Team Poképals, heeding the warning, looked around with Chatot. All of them were on high alert…

After a few moments of finding a place to hide from the vicious pokémon…

"There doesn't seem to be anyplace to hide here," insisted Blaze.

Chatot was thinking with unease in his mind.

 _I sense that danger is very close to us!_

"These rock walls are the only things surrounding us," said Leon.

Chatot continued to think.

 _I'm on the verge of remembering that one glance when I saw those vicious pokémon…_ He had a light go on in his head. _That's it! When they attacked me last time...they seemed to appear out of nowhere! But when I think about it hard enough, they really appeared from…_

He looked up to the ceiling to see that two omastar, who were spiral pokémon, and a kabutops, which was a shellfish pokémon, growling at him! He turned his head back down towards Team Poképals to warn them of the immediate danger!

"Leon! Blaze! Watch out, they're above us!"

They turned to him quickly!

" **What?!** "

The three vicious pokémon on the ceiling suddenly jumped down in front of Team Poképals as they turned around to them! They jumped back in alarm!

"I am Kabutops!" the shellfish pokémon introduced himself.

"And we're the omastar brothers!" the spirial pokémon said next.

"All trespassers must be taught a lesson!" Kabutops bellowed. "Take _this!_ "

He and the two omastar unleashed their attacks on the three pokémon, as Leon and Blaze closed their eyes! They heard a grunt of pain in front of them, and opened their eyes to see that Chatot had taken the blow for the team!

" **Ch-Chatot!** " Leon and Blaze cried out.

"What?!" Kabutops said.

Chatot grunted in pain again.

"I won't let you get away with this…!"

"Well, what a surprise!" Kabutops said with sarcasm in his voice. "That hero shielded his buddies with his body. That's not what I'd call smart.

"Hey! I remember!" one of the omastar said. "Kabutops, that big hero's been here before! We KO'd him the same way too!"

"So this is the second time he's done that?" the shellfish pokémon questioned. "That really takes a whole lot of smarts!" He laughed.

Chatot again grunted.

"Say...what you will...but they're...our prized recruits! I won't let you harm them!"

Team Poképals had tears in their eyes.

"Ch-Chatot..."

The parrot grunted once more before he finally collapsed.

" **CHATOT!** " Leon and Blaze yelled.

Kabutops could only laugh.

"It's your turn next!" he said to the team, as he and the two omastar got into their battle stances.

" **No one hurts our friend and gets away with it!** " Team Poképals furiously yelled, as they got into own stances. " **Prepare yourselves!** "

Just like that, the battle begun!

* * *

Kabutops and his omastar acquaintances were all mixed with rock and water type moves, so Leon had heavy determination to do all he could to back up Blaze from being clobbered like Chatot. Despite this daunting task, the team still had leftover items in their bag to use at their disposal to aid them in this furious battle.

* * *

When Team Poképals finally defeated Kabutops and the two omastar after a while, the foes backed away from the heroic team. They split up and made a beeline to get away from any further harm, not that Leon and Blaze planned to punish them further. The two went over to Chatot to see if he was all right.

"Chatot, are you OK?!" questioned Blaze.

The parrot pokémon slowly tried to get back up, but struggled to do so. He grunted in pain.

"Please stay with us!" demanded Leon in understandable worry.

A voice from behind called out Chatot's name, as Team Poképals turned to see that Wigglytuff and Grovyle had arrived at the scene.

"Guildmaster...is that you…?" said Chatot weakly.

"It's both of you guys!" Leon said. "Come quickly, Chatot's hurt badly!"

"GUILDMASTER!" Loudred's voice bellowed.

He and the other guild members also arrived and were surprised to see the wood gecko in front of them!

"AAAH! It's Grovyle!"

"What's he doing here with the guildmaster?!"

Wigglytuff turned to his guild's members with a somber look on his face.

"I'll explain later! This is more important!"

He turned back to Chatot and rushed to him. The members noticed the badly hurt parrot.

"This is bad! Chatot's down!"

"He's hurt!"

They all surround the gang to check on Chatot. Wigglytuff had tears in his eyes.

"Chatot...a-are you OK? Are y-you hurt?"

The parrot weakly laughed.

"Ha...I'm...just fine… I'm hale and hearty...as you can see..."

"N-no, you're not!" insisted the worrying Wigglytuff. "I'm s-sorry about not g-getting here earlier..."

"Please...don't blame yourself...guildmaster...but...this is so humiliating to be clobbered by the same enemies...again!"

"That isn't true, Chatot! The l-last time we came h-here...you lost consciousness right away, so you probably don't remember this. But...that time…when Kabutops' gang sprang out at us...you shielded me from their attack."

"Excuse me…?"

"I sent his gang packing right after that, but...if it weren't for you jumping out to shield me, Chatot, that would've been it for me. I owe my life to you."

"That's...what happened?"

"Yes, Chatot. You...are my invaluable partner."

"I...am privileged to hear those words, guildmaster. I'm...such a happy pokémon."

Chatot collapsed again, as the rest of the guild was alarmed with great concern.

" **CHATOT!** "

" **Everyone, stay calm!** " announced Grovyle. He went to check the now unconscious Chatot. "...Yes, he'll live. He still has time, but you must get him back to the guild _now!_ "

"Well, let's get back to the guild, then, quick!" Blaze said.

Wigglytuff, having cried his tears out, turned to the chimchar.

"No, _we'll_ take Chatot back to the guild. Both of you, Leon and Blaze, along with Grovyle, need to keep going."

Team Poképals turned to the guildmaster.

"But…!" Blaze began, but was interrupted.

"Don't worry about it. Besides, if you don't go on from here...Chatot's shielding you will have been for nothing."

The chimchar reluctantly nodded in agreement.

"The pattern from your Relic Fragment is up ahead," said Wigglytuff. "Hurry, now."

"Thanks, Wigglytuff." replied Grovyle. "We will continue onward."

He made his way to the next room, as Leon turned to Blaze.

"He's right, Blaze. We _have_ to keep going! There's no turning back now!"

"...OK, then. Let's go."

Team Poképals made their way as well, but before they did, they turned to the guild one more time. The duo then spun back towards the front and went to the next room…

* * *

While Leon, Blaze, and Grovyle were running, they had a chat to catch up on their own current state of affairs.

"Grovyle, how did you know to join us here?" began Blaze.

"Wigglytuff brought me."

"He did?"

"Yes. He'd been looking for me. As soon as he found me, he asked me to go with him. He said both of you were close to finding the Hidden Land. It worked out fine, because I planned to join you anyway."

"Planned to join us? Wait, does that mean…?"

"That's right, I've collected all the necessary Time Gears."

"All right! All we have to do now is get to the Hidden Land! We should be close to the place with the strange pattern now!"

* * *

The three pokémon arrived at the last room deep within Brine Cave that had a cave opening on the left leading to the sea. The sky indicated it was evening as they saw the sun setting. They turned to the right to see the strange pattern everyone mentioned from before.

"Hey! It's the same pattern that was on my Relic Fragment!" announced Blaze. "This must be the same pattern that Chatot described."

"Well, show your Relic Fragment to the pattern right there, then!" insisted Leon.

The chimchar did as he was told and took the fragment off around his neck to show it to the wall. A few moments later, the Relic Fragment started to glow!

"Hey, it's glowing!" Blaze exclaimed.

They turned to the wall to see that the pattern there also glowed!

"Wow! The pattern on the wall's glowing as well!" Leon said. "It's as if...it's reacting to the Relic Fragment!"

All of a sudden, the pattern on the wall produced a blinding light that produced a beam that shot out of the cave's mouth! The three pokémon then looked to the mouth, as Blaze put his Relic Fragment back on around his neck.

"What...was _that?_ " Grovyle said.

"That beam of light shot out to sea!" answered Blaze.

Suddenly, something was coming towards them.

"What's that out there…?" questioned Leon.

"It's coming closer towards us!" said Blaze.

The pokémon came close enough to reveal that it was Lapras, the same pokémon that had the important talk with Wigglytuff last night. She approached the trio.

"All of you are Grovyle, Leon, and Chimchar...correct?"

They nodded in agreement.

"Actually, it's Blaze, now," the chimchar said. "Leon gave me that cool nickname. Anyway, how do you know our names?"

"I met Wigglytuff last night," answered Lapras. "I was informed by him."

"He told you?"

The transport pokémon nodded in agreement. Blaze turned to the pattern on the wall.

"That pattern on the wall shot a beam of light across the sea," he said. He turned back to Lapras. "Then, you appeared right after that. Can you tell us who you are?"

"I'm Lapras, the guide to the Hidden Land."

Team Poképals jumped up in surprise!

" **You're what?!** " Leon and Blaze both said. " **You can take us to the Hidden Land?!** "

"Yes," answered Lapras, "you unleashed the beam of light from the pattern on the wall, which is the signal for gaining entry to the Hidden Land. It is beyond the sea. Step onto my back, so I can carry all of you across the sea. Don't be afraid. I'm exceptional. I can carry you all _and_ more on my back."

Lapras swam to the side of the landing, allowing Team Poképals and Grovyle to get onto her back. She then took them all out of the cave's mouth, and out to the sea, to get to the Hidden Land.


	19. Hidden Land

_Recommended music to listen to for the following segments..._

 _Getting to the Hidden Land, Pushing Dusknoir Back to the Future - Through the Sea of Time (PMD: Explorers games)_

 _Traversing through the Dungeons of the Hidden Land - Lost Kingdom (Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown)_

 _Battle With Dusknoir and the Sableye - The Demon of the Round Table (Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War)_

 _Is This What You Really Want? - Second Part of Offline (Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown)_

 _One Hero Gone, Another Soon To Be As Well... - Into The Dusk (Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War)_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 19**_

 _ **To the Hidden Land**_

Night had arrived in the Grass Continent. At Wigglytuff's guild, all of the remaining members were back safe and sound, including Chatot, who was now making a slow but steady recovery according to Wigglytuff. The parrot needed to rest and recover tonight so that he could be fully healed by tomorrow. The guildmaster himself, meanwhile, told the story of when he and Chatot first encountered the vicious Kabutops and his two omastar allies. Wigglytuff had first told the story to Chatot when the rest of the guild was listening to their conversation at Brine Cave, but the guildmaster did not mention that Lapras came to save them, so he included that piece of information. He then went to tell the guild about the strange pattern that was on Blaze's Relic Fragment, and its meaning and connection to the Hidden Land. Wigglytuff finally added that only a chosen few like Leon, Blaze, and Grovyle, could be selected to go to the Hidden Land itself. He told the guild that from there on out, Team Poképals and Grovyle had the sole responsibility to save the world from its impending paralysis.

* * *

Meanwhile at sea, Lapras told to Team Poképals and Grovyle on how she met Wigglytuff and Chatot at Brine Cave.

"Initially, I didn't intend to reveal myself at all...but I changed my mind the instant I saw Chatot on the ground. I simply had to help. Afterwards, I made Wigglytuff promise me something."

"What was it?" questioned Blaze.

"First of all… I recognized right away that Wigglytuff and Chatot were an exploration team. I first said to them that I couldn't tell if they were bandits with big ambitions, or if they were an exploration team with good intentions, so I asked, for the sake of the world's peace...that they please not investigate the peculiar pattern there."

"What was Wigglytuff's response?" questioned Leon.

"He promised to honor my request, most agreeably," answered Lapras. "He said he owed me thanks for coming to Chatot's aid...and that he would stop all investigations into the matter."

"So that's what happened," said Blaze. "But...why didn't you want anyone else to investigate the pattern?"

"Because within the Hidden Land...is Temporal Tower," Lapras responded, "where the legendary temporal pokémon Dialga reigns. He feared intruders could wreak havoc at the tower that regulates time. Thus, he decided to protect Temporal Tower by hiding the Hidden Land in a gap in time."

"A gap in time?"

"Yes. It is hard to explain, but from what I heard...it's the space between parts of a split second."

"I see," replied Grovyle. "No wonder the place couldn't be found. With a gap in time like that...no one could ever hope to go to a place such as the Hidden Land."

"No, that's not entirely true," insisted Lapras. "Dialga left one key for entering the Hidden Land, which was a special fragment with a mysterious pattern etched into it."

"So, in other words, it was my Relic Fragment?" questioned Blaze.

"Precisely. _That,_ is why all three of you are on your way to the Hidden Land right now."

Grovyle turned to Team Poképals.

"OK, Leon and Blaze. We've all had a long day. We need to rest up so we can be ready as we can be when we arrive at the Hidden Land tomorrow. Get some sleep, because we'll have to give it our all tomorrow."

Team Poképals nodded in agreement, as they and the wood gecko laid on Lapras' back to go to sleep. The transport pokémon, meanwhile, kept on sailing to get closer to the entrance of the Hidden Land.

* * *

The next morning, Lapras was still swimming on the water, as Team Poképals and Grovyle were fully awake.

"Hey, Lapras," Blaze said.

The transport pokémon turned her head back to the three pokémon.

"What is it, Blaze?"

"You've been swimming a long time. Are you doing OK?"

"I'm just fine. No need for concern, because we're almost there." Lapras turned her head back to the front. "See? It's coming into view."

"What's coming into view?"

"Do you see looks a little different, on the far horizon?"

The three pokémon looked closer to the front to see a portal within distance.

"It _is_ true!" Grovyle said. "The waves are all twisted up now!"

"Lapras, wh-what is that?!" questioned Blaze.

"The edge of the gap in time," she answered. "That is the portal which we will go to the Hidden Land." Her swimming started to speed up a bit. "Hang on now!"

Her speed increased even more, until her body was lifted off the water!

" **Whoa!** " exclaimed Leon and Blaze. " **You're flying, Lapras!** "

"No, that's not it!" insisted Grovyle. "This isn't flying! We're crossing the sea of time!"

Lapras' speed increased even more, until she and the three pokémon on her back were in the portal within the edge of the gap of time. They were all transported to a sight where they saw a floating land high in the sky, with black stormy clouds below, and yellow clouds in the air. The rocks on the upper left corner had a tower stationed on one large rock, which was presumed to be the Temporal Tower.

"Lapras..." Grovyle said, "...is that it?! Is that the Hidden Land?!"

"Yes! It's the Hidden Land, all right! Now, all of you hang on tight! We're going in!"

The transport pokémon and the three on her back had finally made their way to the ever-elusive Hidden Land.

* * *

Once Lapras got near the floating Hidden Land, she got close enough to a patch of green grass in front of her so that Leon, Blaze, and Grovyle could get onto the green surface safely. They looked around at the amazing sight of the land itself.

"Th-this...is really the Hidden Land...incredible!" commented Blaze.

"We finally made it here," Grovyle said.

"Please look ahead," suggested Lapras.

The three pokémon turned to the front and were alarmed by something there...

"Whoa! What's that?!" bellowed Blaze.

Above the Hidden Land itself, was a tower standing on a rocky formation further up in the sky with a swirl of red clouds on top of the tower.

"Is that...perhaps..." started Grovyle.

"Yes. It's Temporal Tower," answered Lapras.

"That must be where Dialga is… That's where we have to go to take those Time Gears there."

"But if you take a closer look," Leon said, "that place seems to be floating in the sky! I wonder how we're supposed to get there?"

"You must take the Rainbow Stoneship," answered Lapras.

Team Poképals and Grovyle turned to her.

"The Rainbow Stoneship?" said Grovyle.

"Yes," answered Lapras. "You will find it within the Old Ruins far ahead. That is where you find an ancient, mystical vessel, called the Rainbow Stoneship, which will take you to Temporal Tower."

"Thank you, Lapras!" Blaze said.

"That is all I can do for all of you here. From here on out, you're on your own. Good luck on reaching Temporal Tower!"

Leon, Blaze, and Grovyle nodded, understanding her words. The chimchar turned to Grovyle and Leon, as they turned to him as well.

"We don't have far to go now, guys! Let's keep it up!"

The two nodded in agreement, as the trio made its way to the Kangaskhan Rock that near the entrance of the dungeon of Hidden Land. They restocked their item supply in their bag so that they were fully ready to tackle the dungeon itself.

* * *

In the Hidden Land's dungeon, there was nearly 25 floors of pokémon of many several types. Leon, Blaze, and Grovyle, would have to remember their respective type strengths and weaknesses, and rely on backing each other up to get through this tricky dungeon.

* * *

After getting through the dungeon, the trio finally arrived at the Old Ruins deep within the Hidden Land. They were amazed at what they saw in the ruins themselves. They saw one ancient inscription of Mew, another with Kyogre and Groudon, and one more with Palkia and Dialga. Grovyle reminded his two friends to not waste any more time examining the inscriptions and get going toward the Rainbow Stoneship, which was not very far now.

* * *

When they arrived outside, they went up the rocky stairs ahead in the temple section of the Old Ruins. After a few seconds, they arrived at the top and noticed above the circle that they were standing on had the same peculiar pattern of that on Blaze's Relic Fragment. They paid even more attention to what was in the center of it…

"There's a small indentation in the middle," said Blaze. "I wonder what it's for…?"

Leon looked around to find a tablet at the top as well.

"Hey, guys, look over here!"

They went with him over towards the tablet.

"What is it, Leon?" questioned Grovyle.

"It's a stone tablet! There seems to be something inscribed here." He looked closely at the inscription. "What are these...strange runes?"

"They're inscribed with Unown letters, meaning it's in an ancient language."

"Can you read it, Grovyle?" Blaze said.

"Yes. I've researched extensively to learn about this."

" **Really?!** " both Leon and Blaze said. " **That's great! Read it!** "

"Don't be so impatient," insisted Grovyle. "Give me a minute."

The wood gecko pokémon examined the Unown runes for a few moments carefully, then he started to read silently from the inscription. Later, he described to both Leon and Blaze what it meant…

"It appears that this place that we're standing on right now...is the Rainbow Stoneship."

" **What?!** " the piplup and chimchar exclaimed in amazement. " **This is it?!** "

"Yes, that's right," answered Grovyle. He and his friends turned back to the indentation back to the middle of the stoneship. "As you may have noticed, there is an indentation here." They went closer to it. "Here it is. Blaze, this is where your Relic Fragment goes. Fit that fragment with the strange pattern on it into the indentation."

The chimchar jumped up in alarm.

"What?! You want me to put it in there?"

"That's right. That will activate the Rainbow Stoneship, which will allow us to ride it up to Temporal Tower, as indicated by the tablet."

Blaze had his eyes shining.

"Really?!"

"Of course. Try it and see."

"OK, then! I'll fit it into this hollow spot!"

As Blaze tried to remove his necklace containing the Relic Fragment, he was stopped by an awfully familiar voice…

"That's quite enough of that."

The trio looked around to see who it was!

"Who's...there?!" demanded Grovyle.

"Wheh-heh-heh!" another voice boomed.

All of a sudden, six sableye, a pair of each that came from each of the three stairways, surrounded the trio!

"It's the sableye!" Blaze exclaimed. "That must mean..."

They then heard evil laughing coming from the right stairway! They turned there to see that Dusknoir had indeed arrived along with his sableye minions! He approached the trio!

"Dusknoir's here also!" Leon said.

"How did you get here?!" demanded Grovyle.

"It was quite simple, actually," answered Dusknoir. "I had Master Dialga warp us here directly. After all, I knew that all of you would inevitably come here. Waiting here spared us the bother of having to search for you."

Grovyle grunted in frustration, as Dusknoir replied with a laugh.

"Unfortunately, all of you are coming back to the future with me." The gripper pokémon looked to his sableye minions. "My fellow sableye, take them to the dimensional hole!"

They laughed in agreement, and dragged the trio down the right stairway. When they got to the bottom where the dimensional hole was, Dusknoir ordered the sableye to stop and they and awaited their next order…

"My fellow sableye, into the dimensional hole with them!"

They laughed again, while Grovyle whispered to Leon and Blaze to think about how to avoid being dragged back to the future…

"Blaze and Leon...now!"

"You got it!" replied Blaze.

"I'm with you!" said Leon.

All of a sudden, the three bashed the sableye out of the way as the minions cried out in pain! The trio then went into their battle stances.

"Well, well..." commented Dusknoir. "All of you are displaying some feeble resistance, even though you know it's futile..."

"Did you expect anything less?" replied Grovyle.

"Then you leave me no choice."

Dusknoir stepped into the fray…

"I'll simply defeat all of you here, then take you to the future. It makes no difference to me."

Grovyle let out a grunt of frustation, as Dusknoir continued.

"Even though the odds are overwhelmingly stacked against you, how much resistance can you manage to serve up? Show me!"

The sableye got into their battle stances as well!

"Swarm them!" ordered Dusknoir.

The battle between good and evil had begun!

* * *

Being surrounded by six sableye and their master, Dusknoir, Team Poképals and Grovyle would have to pull every trick out of their bag to get out of this tight situation they found themselves in! Luckily, just like with Leon and Blaze's prior boss battles, they had a slew of items at their disposal to defeat the sableye first before they could target Dusknoir himself. The trio eventually did that, and turned to Dusknoir.

"It's only you and us now, Dusknoir!" bellowed Grovyle.

"Try and stop me!"

Deciding they could just use their pure battling tactics to bring down Dusknoir, Team Poképals and Grovyle went all out to bring down the villain once and for all!

* * *

A few moments later, Dusknoir collapsed to the ground in defeat. Deciding not to take any risks, the trio approached him to see if he was truly beaten.

All of a sudden, he rose back up again!

" **I refuse to lose!** " he yelled.

The gripper pokémon pushed Team Poképals and Grovyle a few feet back, as they cried out in pain.

"All of you are so gullible!" Dusknoir said. "If you thought I was beaten, think again! For all the effort in the world...with your puny power...you had no chance of winning right from the start!"

Blaze turned to his friends.

"Ugh...he truly is tough."

"Don't give up!" Grovyle insisted. "We can still beat him!"

"That's easy for you to say..."

Dusknoir approached the trio, as Blaze turned back to him.

"You've done admirably well for those as pitiful as you...but it's all over now." He opened his face-like belly up to prepare his ultimate attack! "This is the end... **for all of you!** "

"The mouth on his stomach opened up!" Blaze said, amazed.

"He's trying to do something!" Grovyle insisted.

"Is he going to unleash a move on us, from _that_ mouth on his _stomach_?!" Leon said. He thought carefully but quickly, and got an idea! "Wait…! The mouth on his stomach! That's it! This could work for us!"

" **What are you saying, Leon?!** " Blaze and Grovyle yelled, as Dusknoir gathered energy from his stomach to form a big black ball!

"We'll force our combined moves down his stomach!" answered Leon.

" **WHAT?!** "

"There's no time! It's our only chance to stop him! Trust me on this!"

The trio got their best moves ready, as Dusknoir let his move loose!

" **TAKE THIS!** "

Leon, Blaze, and Grovyle, all simultaneously shouted out the names of their moves!

" **HYDRO PUMP!** "

" **FLAMETHROWER!** "

" **LEAF BLADE!** "

Just at the right time, the three moves hit Dusknoir's black ball and sent it back towards him! Once it hit him, he let out a loud cry of pain as the contact from the black ball blinded the area!

When the dust cleared, Dusknoir was barely able to stay floating, while he groaned in great pain. He let out a roar as he collapsed once more, ending the long hard battle for good. His sableye minions were shocked that he had been defeated. The heroic trio was also exhausted, but were clearly in much better condition.

"We...did it..." said Blaze slowly.

"He's...finally down..." Grovyle replied.

"We've finally beaten him!" Leon said.

The six sableye were in shock once again.

"Wheh...it can't be..."

"Lord Dusknoir..."

"...Is defeated!"

They looked at each other for a quick second, before they made a beeline into the dimensional hole to go back to the future without their master!

Leon, Blaze, and Grovyle approached the now minion-less Dusknoir.

"Humph. Your sableye ran off," said Grovyle. "You just had no luck attracting reliable allies."

Dusknoir could only groan in pain and disappointment, as Grovyle turned to Blaze.

"Blaze!"

"What is it?" the chimchar said, turning to the wood gecko.

"Go to the top of the temple so you can finally place your Relic Fragment into the indentation to try and get the Rainbow Stoneship moving. Make it quick while Leon and I try to keep an eye on Dusknoir down here."

Blaze nodded in agreement.

"Got it!"

He turned back to the stairway to go up to where the stoneship was, as Leon and Grovyle watched him.

"If the Rainbow Stoneship works," the wood gecko said, "we can go to Temporal Tower."

"Yeah," Leon replied. "I hope it does..."

Dusknoir groaned in pain again, as they turned to him.

"Don't you dare move!" Grovyle said.

"Leon...Grovyle...is this really...what you want?" Dusknoir questioned. "If history _is_ changed...we pokémon of the future will vanish..."

The piplup and Grovyle were understandably alarmed.

"Wh-what?!" said Leon.

"It won't just be me..." Dusknoir replied, "... _both_ of you will also share my fate. Since you come from a future that will cease to exit, you will both disappear too...so is that what you _really_ want?"

"If we change history, we'll vanish too?!" Leon turned to Grovyle. "Grovyle, is he...telling...the truth?"

"I'm afraid he's true, Leon," the wood gecko answered, as he turned to the piplup. "If we _do_ change history...we _will_ disappear."

"G-Grovyle!"

"But...that doesn't matter…if it means restoring time...and bringing peace to the world! It's what I came to the past to do… Celebi also helped us, knowing that she too will vanish if we succeed."

"Even her...? Wait, I remember! When we were in the future...when Celebi said that she would devote her whole life...she wasn't joking about it! She really meant it!"

"As for you, Leon...you came with that same resolve. We came from the future fully accepting what would happen to us, but...with the way you are now, you _don't_ remember that resolve. I know that this is coming as a great shock to you, but...we have no choice in the matter either way. If we don't act, time _will_ be destroyed, and the planet's paralysis _will_ begin. We _must_ vanish from history...so that we can bring peace to this world. Please try to understand, Leon."

The piplup turned to where Blaze was…

 _So that's how it was…_ he thought with a somber look on his face. _I came to this world...with a resolve such as that… If we succeeded...we would vanish...but…_ Leon put on an emotion of determination. _If we don't act, the destruction of time **cannot** be stopped. That means...we **have** to do it, even if I have to disappear._

He turned to Grovyle.

"...I understand now."

"Thanks, Leon. There's just one thing, however...that changed for us by coming to this world. It's true that we had the resolve to complete our mission, and it stayed true when we first came back to this world...but we had absolutely nothing to lose...and nothing to go back to. But, Leon...this changed for you when you became a pokémon… You found a friend and partner in the form of Blaze. He looks up to you greatly, so if he found out that you might vanish...he _will_ be devastated. He has such a good spirit, but if the future is altered and you disappear...he...will be left all alone."

Leon had a somber look on his face again on the thought of leaving Blaze, his best friend, his best pal in the whole wide world…

"I finally understand, Grovyle. If I change history...I _will_ vanish. That means...Blaze will be very sad when I'm gone. I forgot to tell you that he's got no family, either. He's got no mom or dad to raise him, but only his adoptive aunt Kangaskhan from her storage department back in Treasure Town to do so. Blaze will _really_ be heartbroken when I'm gone..."

"I'm very sorry to hear that..."

* * *

Meanwhile at the top of the temple, Blaze put his Relic Fragment into the indentation of the Rainbow Stoneship. When he did, it released a blinding light briefly before it glowed and started to move. It would take some time for it to fully lift off from the ground, so he waited until the time came.

* * *

Back at where Leon, Grovyle, and Dusknoir were, the piplup and the wood gecko took notice of the big light coming from the top of the temple.

"Blaze has done it!" exclaimed Grovyle. "He must have activated the Rainbow Stoneship!"

Dusknoir groaned again, as the two turned to him to see him suddenly get back up to strike Leon! The piplup was sent a few feet back as he cried in pain!

"I _will not_ let you change history!" Dusknoir said.

He charged towards the seemingly defenseless Leon, until Grovyle got in front of the gripper pokémon to absorb the attack! The wood gecko laid down on the floor in excruciating pain.

"Grovyle!" Leon cried out.

"So you shielded Leon, Grovyle?!" Dusknoir said. "That's taken a heavy toll on you! Very well! You're going down first!"

Grovyle got back up as quick as he could and turned to him!

" **Never!** "

He thrust himself into Dusknoir in an attempt to push themselves into the dimensional hole!

"Wh-what are you doing?!" demanded Dusknoir.

"I'm...taking you...Dusknoir...back to the future with me!" answered Grovyle.

"What..."

"What?!" exclaimed Leon.

Grovyle turned his head to the piplup.

"Leon, it's all up to you now!"

The wood gecko shook his body to release the Time Gears that were in his bag to Leon!

"Those are…!" Dusknoir said.

"...Time Gears!" answered Leon.

Blaze made his way back to the crowd.

"Okay, guys!" he announced. "The Rainbow Stoneship's set to go!"

The chimchar looked to see what was happening to Grovyle and Dusknoir!

"Wha...what's happening?!"

"Blaze...this is it for me!" explained Grovyle. "I'm taking Dusknoir...back to the future!"

"Wh-what?!"

"I can never come back here again! Please promise me...that you'll watch Leon's back!"

Blaze had tears in his eyes.

"B-but…I can't take your place Grovyle! I just can't!"

"You must and you will...because you _can_ , Blaze. Both you and Leon...are the greatest of combinations."

"Unhand me!" demanded Dusknoir to Grovyle. "Release me!"

Grovyle turned to him.

"Quiet, we're almost there!"

The wood gecko turned back to Leon one more time.

"Leon...take care of yourself and your pal. I was lucky to have known you. Though the parting hurts...the rest is in your hands!"

"Thanks, Grovyle!"

Grovyle turned back to Dusknoir.

"Sorry for the holdup, Dusknoir!"

The wood gecko pokémon pushed himself and Dusknoir into the portal that led into the future, as they both disappeared from sight. The dimensional hole then closed itself for good. Blaze could only stare at this sight in disbelief, as tears streamed from his eyes.

"Grovyle...no..."

He and Leon turned to where the Rainbow Stoneship was, as its light glowed even brighter.

"The sound of the Rainbow Stoneship is getting louder!" Blaze said.

"Yeah, it looks like it's gonna move anytime soon!" Leon said.

"But...I'm still devastated at what happened to Grovyle back there...I'm too sad...to even move..."

 _But…_ Leon thought to himself. _...If we don't hurry though...the stoneship will leave without us… Grovyle...I may be sad...but right now…I have to finish our job, just like we promised._

Blaze, having cried his eyes out, but still heartbroken from Grovyle's sudden disappearance, spoke up.

"We'd better go though...I'll go gather the Time Gears."

He turned back to get the Time Gears and put them in his team's bag.

"Wait for us in the future, Grovyle! We'll stop the planet's paralysis...and we'll change the future into a better world! A world in which you can live happily! We won't fail you!"

 _What Dusknoir said though…_ Leon thought to himself. _He's right. If the future is changed, Grovyle will vanish...along with myself…_

Blaze and the piplup turned to each other.

"Hey, Leon. The last thing Grovyle said to you...was even though the parting hurts...the rest was in your hands. He was right about one thing...parting hurts. I understand that feeling, and how it hurts. He was partners with you for a long time, pal. I think it must have hurt Grovyle terribly to leave you."

 _That may be what he meant,_ Leon thought, _but no. That isn't it. Grovyle's last words...weren't about me and him. He meant me and Blaze. Grovyle said what he did...because he knew that I would have to leave Blaze eventually. When history is changed...I will be gone. My time together with my best pal here is ending...so this is our last adventure together._

"Blaze, please come over here and give me a hug. We need to comfort each other for just a bit..."

The chimchar ran over for a quick embrace with Leon. After a few seconds, they separated from their hug, and they both had looks of determination on their faces.

"Okay, pal!" Leon said. "We have to do this for Grovyle's sake! Let's go to Temporal Tower!"

Blaze nodded in agreement.

Team Poképals finally made their way to the Rainbow Stoneship to get onboard so that they could be taken to the Temporal Tower.


	20. Last Adventure

_Music recommended to listen to for these segments..._

 _On Our Way to Temporal Tower, Assessing the Dire Situation - LRSSG Briefing III (Ace Combat 7 - Skies Unknown)_

 _The Trek Up The Tower - Lighthouse (Ace Combat 7 - Skies Unknown)_

 _Battle With Primal Dialga - Daredevil (Ace Combat 7 - Skies Unknown)_

 _Peace at Last!, Sorrow Felt From Afar - Time Restored (PMD: Explorers games)_

 _I Have To Say Goodbye... - Don't Ever Forget... (PMD: Explorers games)_

 _Blaze Tells All - A Wish For Peace (PMD: Explorers games)_

 _Memories Of My Pal... - Memories Returned (PMD: Explorers games)_

 _Crying on Bidoof's Shoulder - Ending Theme Intro (PMD: Explorers games)_

 _An Old Pal Returns! - Victory (Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies)_

 _I Missed You So Much... - A New World (PMD: Explorers of Sky)_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 20**_

 _ **The Last Adventure?**_

Team Poképals, now sadly without Grovyle, arrived on top of the Rainbow Stoneship just in time as it moved off the top of the temple to fly them straight towards the Temporal Tower. The stoneship itself left the trail of a rainbow behind it as it got closer to where the tower was. Once it got close enough, Leon and Blaze made their way off the Rainbow Stoneship and onto the rocky trail ahead towards Temporal Tower. While they did, they noticed the ominous red sky above the tower itself.

When they arrived near the entrance, they felt the ground shaking violently, indicating that the planet's paralysis was getting stronger. They decided to turn to each other to catch themselves up on the current situation.

"What in the world was that tremor, anyway?" questioned Blaze.

"I don't know," answered Leon, "but Grovyle once said something about this! He said that time started going haywire everywhere because Temporal Tower here began collapsing."

The two pals now had determined looks on their faces.

"So that tremor we just felt," Blaze replied, "means that the tower could be collapsing as we speak..."

"Right, Blaze! We need to hurry!"

They turned to the Kangaskhan rock nearby to stock up on their items for their last possible adventure together within Temporal Tower. Once they were all done organizing, they made their way into the tower itself.

* * *

The dungeon of Temporal Tower was filled with a mixture of psychic, steel, and normal type pokémon. Leon and Blaze knew by now that they needed to know their type match-ups in order to quickly get to the top of the tower.

* * *

Once Team Poképals made it to the pinnacle of Temporal Tower, they noticed that constant flashes of lightning came from the ominous red sky with its clouds swirling. They felt another tremor, this time more stronger than the previous ones than they felt earlier through the trek up the tower. With no more time to waste, they went ahead, and noticed a mystic relic with a big circular pedestal within it, and more importantly, five indentations to where to put the Time Gears into to prevent the planet's paralysis.

"That must be where those Time Gears go to prevent our planet's paralysis!" said Blaze.

"Let's hurry and put them in there, then!" replied Leon.

Just as they made their way up the stairs to the pedestal, a bolt of lightning struck the stairway, sending Team Poképals back a few feet! They got back up, just as the sky went dark.

"It turned dark all of a sudden!" said an alarmed Blaze.

Suddenly, a voice growled within the pinnacle itself!

" **So, it's you! You seek the destruction of Temporal Tower!** "

"What?! You're wrong!" insisted Blaze.

"Yeah! We're here to prevent time from stopping!" said Leon.

" **Time...stopping...** "

A flash of lightning struck, returning light to the tower's pinnacle! The voice growled again, as a blinding light appeared for a brief moment before revealing the corrupted, primal version of Dialga himself! Startled by his sudden appearance, Team Poképals went back a few feet!

" **It's Primal Dialga!** " they both said.

The corrupted temporal pokémon roared in response.

" **You dare bring ruin to the tower?!** " he questioned.

"No!" insisted Leon.

"That's wrong!" said Blaze.

" **Silence!** " bellowed Dialga, as he growled. " **For all those who threaten Temporal Tower...I will show no mercy to them!** "

He roared again, as the two pals turned to each other!

"It's no use, Leon!" Blaze said. "He's not listening to us at all!"

"Dialga's losing control because time is breaking down!" replied Leon. "But this isn't like his primal version of himself in the future, so that means he's not yet fully consumed by the power of darkness! There's still a chance that he can be brought back to reason! There's still hope!"

"You're right, Leon!"

Team Poképals turned back to Primal Dialga and got into their battle stances!

"Ready, Blaze?!"

"More than ever!"

" **OK, then, Dialga! Let's do this!** " they both said.

The primal temporal pokémon roared in response.

The final battle to save the world has now begun!

Leon and Blaze knew that Primal Dialga, unlike the Groudon illusion back at Fogbound Lake, was the real deal here! They knew that a legendary pokémon like him was not to be reckoned with, so they had to rely on their pure battling skills only to bring down the corrupted version of the temporal pokémon.

After a few minutes, they were able to weaken him enough to send him staggering a few feet back!

"All right!" cheered Blaze. "He's gotten weak!"

"It's not over quite yet, though!" insisted Leon. "Let's use our best moves to end our battle once and for all!"

"Right with you, pal!"

They started to charge their moves for a few moments, then they shouted their names from out of their mouths!

" **HYDRO PUMP!** "

" **FLAMETHROWER!** "

They launched their moves towards Primal Dialga which were able to hit him spot-on!

* * *

The temporal pokémon now struggled to stay standing up, as he growled weakly for a few moments, before he finally collapsed onto the ground with a loud thud. Team Poképals was extremely exhausted at this point, but they knew that they finally won their most crucial battle ever.

"We...did it..." Blaze said while he caught his breath.

"And now that we did, Blaze," Leon replied, "it's time to go put those Time Gears in place! C'mon! Let's get to that pedestal!"

They made their way to the relic, but they were stopped by the earthquakes that now shook the Temporal Tower continuously! The ground at the pinnacle was also starting to fall apart!

"These tremors are the worst than they've ever been!" Blaze said. "They're even starting to tear this surface apart!"

"There's no more time to waste!" replied Leon. "We have to get to that pedestal... _now!_ "

They went up towards it. With great difficulty, they had to place the five Time Gears into place in the indentations, but they managed to do it.

"Done!" Blaze said. "They're in there now!"

The pedestal, along with the mystical relic surrounding it, glowed to a light blue color, while the Time Gears sunk into the pedestal itself. Leon and Blaze waited for a few moments for the effect to take place, but the ground shook even more violently, sending them tumbling down the stairs of the relic! They got back up quickly.

"Wh-why isn't it working?!" demanded Blaze. "We put the Time Gears where there were supposed to go, but why won't these tremors stop?!"

They could only turn to each other.

"It can't be too late for us! It just can't!" insisted Leon.

Just then, a bolt of lightning from the red sky struck a pillar on the pinnacle, sending Team Poképals to the ground again! They stayed down and braced themselves while more bolts of lightning struck the top of Temporal Tower! Finally, a blinding white light covered the entire area!

* * *

A few moments later, Leon and Blaze woke up to a nearly destroyed pinnacle of Temporal Tower, with its floor and the sky now a creamy-yellow, and the relic and its pedestal now glowing green. The two pals turned to each other.

"Hey, Leon..." began Blaze. He looked around before he turned back to him. "Wh-where..."

"This..." a voice rang out, "...is Temporal Tower."

They turned to see that it was Dialga! Not only that, he was restored back to his normal, rightful, and controlled self! They approached him.

"Ahhh! Dialga!" shrieked Blaze.

"You have no cause for alarm," the temporal pokémon insisted. "I have regained my reason."

"What?"

"Although Temporal Tower has taken heavy damage...it _has_ , and _will_ survive. Now, observe."

Dialga turned around and the gem from his body showed Leon and Blaze a view of the Treeshroud Forest area that had now regained movement! Trees were moving from the wind, along with the grass, plants and the leaves!

"Th-this must be..." Blaze began.

"Dialga must be showing this to us..." Leon said. "He must be using telepathy to do so."

The view zoomed closer to the leaves to show that dewdrops had indeed started to fall once more.

"This...must be Treeshroud Forest!" Blaze said, finally finishing his sentence. "But it's not the same! When we were there, time was stopped! But this time...it's moving again!"

Next, Dialga showed them a view of Treasure Town, showing the residents and visitors there rejoiced from the restoration of time.

"Everyone looks happy in Treasure Town, all right!" Leon inserted.

The temporal pokémon then showed Team Poképals a view of the ravaged Hidden Land, and finally, a view of the nearly collapsed Temporal Tower. A sun also shone above and onto the tower itself.

"It's Temporal Tower," commented Blaze. "It seems to be badly damaged..."

"But it's still standing!" said Leon. "It didn't fully collapse! It did survive, after all!"

Dialga ended his telepathy and turned back to Team Poképals.

"Temporal Tower survived the crisis," he said. "Time has returned to normal here, and thus, it has resumed in places where it had stopped. Because you stopped the ruin of Temporal Tower...the planet's paralysis has been prevented. The world's peace...has been restored."

"R-really?!" questioned Blaze with a wide smile. He and Leon turned to each other. "We did it, Leon! We really did it!"

"We brought peace to the world!" responded the piplup.

He and Blaze ran to each other to give themselves a hug, while they hopped in circles and laughed joyously. They calmed themselves down eventually and turned back to Dialga.

"Allow me to thank you," he continued. "I thank you for reaching the Hidden Land...for the courage you had to stand up to me, even as I raged out of control...and for preventing the ruin of Temporal Tower in the nick of time. Thank you. All this, I owe to you."

" **You're welcome, Dialga,** " Team Poképals said.

"But all is not yet as it should be...for it will take time to do so. I must see to the repair of Temporal Tower." Dialga turned to where the Hidden Land was. "The Hidden Land, too, has been ravaged...but the Rainbow Stoneship should still be operable...and Lapras should still be awaiting your return."

"OK! We'll make our way, then!" Blaze said, as the temporal pokémon turned back to them. The chimchar and Leon turned to each other.

"Let's get back home to Treasure Town, Leon!"

"I couldn't agree more!"

They made their way off the Temporal Tower.

* * *

On Team Poképals' way to the Rainbow Stoneship after successfully saving the entire world from near paralysis, Leon was struggling to keep up with his best friend Blaze on the rocky path. Perhaps the piplup's time to leave was surely almost here…

 _My body...feels heavy,_ Leon thought. _What's wrong…? Why am I struggling to move…? It's almost as if...my legs are weighed down… Maybe...now that we changed the future...my time in this world...is over…_

Suddenly, an earthquake, though not as serious when the planet's paralysis was nearly happening, was felt on the path, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Whoa! Tremors!" said Blaze.

After a few seconds, the earthquake stopped. The chimchar was obviously relieved that it was not serious as before.

"Well, at least it wasn't as bad as it was before, so that's a good thing. Things are still getting back to normal, I guess." He turned to Leon. "C'mon, Leon. Let's keep moving."

The two pals went ahead, until Leon himself stopped when a few yellow orbs of light came from his own body…

 _This...this light…_ he thought. He bore a somber face, realizing the inevitable was about to happen. _I guess it's finally time… My time with Blaze...ends now. I must tell him the truth._

"Hey, Blaze..." he said out loud, as the chimchar turned back to him and approached him, "...I don't feel so good."

"Why, what's wr-" Blaze began, when he cut himself off by noticing the strange orbs that emitted from his best friend. "What's happening to you?!"

"I'm sorry, Blaze." Leon had an apologetic smile on his face. "I kept this to myself for a long time… It looks like...I have to say goodbye..."

The chimchar was understandably alarmed.

"What?! Goodbye?! What are you saying?!"

"Dusknoir told me that if we changed the future, pokémon and humans from the future world would vanish from history… I'm a former human from the future world, so that's why...I'm destined to disappear too."

"Huh? What? Wh-why? I don't understand!"

"Thank you for everything. I'm about to leave now…but Blaze...I'll _never_ forget you."

The chimchar got closer to the piplup.

"W-wait a second… I only made it this far because you were with me, Leon." Blaze now had tears in his eyes. "Don't you understand…? You made me strong, pal… If you go...I...I don't know...what I would..."

"No, Blaze. You have to be strong on your own, _and_ you have to live! You _must_ go home...and tell everybody about what happened here...so that nothing like this ever happens again."

The chimchar sniffled.

"L-Leon..."

The piplup's orbs around him got brighter and started to increase in numbers.

 _The light...is getting brighter…_

"Don't go, Leon! Please don't leave me all alone here!"

"Thanks for everything, Blaze. I'm glad that we got to train together at the guild, for going on adventures together, and most of all...I'm grateful...that I got to know you, pal."

"Wait...Leon..."

"I'm so sorry that it had to come to this. I'm still very lucky that you were my friend..."

"I feel the same, Leon! To me...you're like my big brother! My family! A pal for life! And...you're more important than anything in my life..."

"Yes...I feel the same way, Blaze… Even after I'm gone...I will _never_ forget you."

The orbs around Leon increased in amount again, until eventually, he faded in front of his best friend's eyes. The only thing left was the piplup's Joy Ribbon, which dropped to the ground. Blaze went closer, as tears streamed from his eyes.

"Leon...Leon!"

He dropped to the ground.

" **LEOOOOOOOON!** "

Blaze laid there, weeping and crying heavily for what seemed like forever, as he had lost Leon, his most precious pal in the entire world. Eventually, Blaze, with his eyes red from all the tears he shed, and was still crying, got back up, and picked up his lost pal's Joy Ribbon to put in the bag, before he turned away and made his way slowly towards the Rainbow Stoneship.

"...I have to live...I must get home alive...and tell everybody about what happened. Because it's...Leon's...last wish..."

The chimchar got close enough to see the stoneship, as tears stopped from his eyes for now.

"Th-there's...the Rainbow Stoneship..."

He ran over to the stoneship. He tripped on the ground once, but got back up and got aboard his means of transportation to the Hidden Land. He turned around to look at the Temporal Tower, as the Rainbow Stoneship made its way to the Hidden Land.

"Temporal Tower is..." he began, "...getting farther and farther away..." He realized he was also getting far away from the remains of Leon, and cried tears again. "...And Leon...I'm getting farther away from him..." He turned away from the somber sight, as he cried out his best pal's name.

Team Poképals had finally succeeded in their mission to save the world from disaster...but at a tragic cost.

* * *

Blaze eventually arrived at the ravaged Hidden Land, traveled across it, went on Lapras without a word to her, who took him across the sea...and safely returned to Treasure Town.

Upon arriving, Blaze went straight to the guild, where its members surrounded him and cheered for his accomplishment. They later realized however, that Leon had not returned with him and were saddened by the piplup's disappearance. Despite that, Blaze urged them to listen to the adventure that he and Leon took, about what happened in the Hidden Land, what took place in Temporal Tower, and about the loss of Grovyle...and of course, Leon. Blaze also spoke of how the destruction of time was stopped, and how the world was restored to peace.

In the town's main square, he told the story to everyone else, whenever and wherever possible, to as many pokémon as possible. It was a story that had to be told...one of hope for world peace...and for future peace.

Several months had passed. Treasure Town returned to its cheerful routines, as the scars from the planet's injuries slowly healed...allowing life to gradually return to normal. It was still not normal for Blaze, though, as he barely had the heart to go on jobs to increase his team's rank, and requested to take an indefinite hiatus after a while. He instead focused on other voluntary work for the guild.

* * *

One evening, Blaze went out to the guild's entrance as he met up with Bidoof, who was on his way for dinner that was being prepared.

"Howdy, Blaze. Going out for a bit?"

"Yes. Just for a walk, of course."

"Yup yup! Sounds nice indeed! Just don't be late for supper!"

"Understood."

Bidoof watched Blaze make his way down the stairs, and towards the beach.

At the beach, the krabby were blowing the bubbles across the area, and into the sea. The sun was setting, as Blaze himself got close to the waters to get a closer look at the sunset. He was amazed at the sight as always.

"Oh, boy...this is beautiful!"

He stared at the sunset for a few moments, taking in the wonderful view. Later, he spoke again.

"I haven't seen this for a long while. It's as beautiful as I remember. I've just been too busy to come and see it. But I've missed this...fantastic sight."

The chimchar thought about something for a brief moment.

"...I wonder when it was when I last saw this… I think it was..." A light went on in his head. "Oh yeah! The last time I saw this...is when...I first met Leon..."

Blaze thought about the time when he first met his best pal Leon. He had seen him unconscious on the spot where he arrived, and urged him to wake up. After that thought had ended, the chimchar turned to that exact spot, and continued his speech.

"The view was like this that time too..."

He went closer to the spot, and stopped halfway there.

"When the krabby blew all those bubbles along the beach...I noticed...that Leon was right there… He was...unconscious...but I managed to wake him up. That was when...he and I...began our adventure."

Just like that, memories came into Blaze's head that involved all the adventures he and Leon had.

First, Blaze and Leon agreed to form the heroic Team Poképals here at the beach.

Then, at the guild, they promised to always do their best.

There was that time when Blaze felt reassured by Leon that he would have his back when he learned he had no family.

At the entrance of Waterfall Cave, the sight of their first exploration, Blaze put his faith in Leon to jump into the cave with all the courage he had in the world.

The time when Blaze knew he made the right decision to form Team Poképals in order to solve the mystery of his Relic Fragment.

At the top of Steam Cave, near Fogbound Lake, where Blaze and Leon had to put their bravery to the test to defeat the Groudon illusion...

Then, at the lake itself, where the two pals took in the amazing view of a geyser that sprayed out like a fountain.

The time when they discovered the entrance to Crystal Crossing deep within Crystal Cave.

The time when they were in the future, where they successfully attacked the sableye at the right time to escape certain danger...

When Blaze thanked Leon for picking him up when he felt down and out…

When they resolved to get back to the world of the past…

And finally, when they resolved to complete the mission of saving the world for Grovyle's sake at the Old Ruins of the Hidden Land, near the Temporal Tower.

The showcase of memories came to an end, as Blaze found himself back at the beach in the present.

"I remember it all so fondly. I remember all those memories of my time with Leon..."

The chimchar had tears in his eyes.

"B-but now...he's g-gone. He's n-not...h-here a-anymore..."

Unable to take it anymore, he collapsed onto the sand, crying his eyes out. Just then, Bidoof arrived at the beach, worried for him.

"B-Blaze!"

Bidoof ran towards the chimchar to check on him.

"You were gone so long that I was getting worried about you… Wh-what's wrong?"

Blaze turned around to him and gave him a hug, crying out his name in the process. Bidoof didn't know what else to do, as he could only try to comfort the poor Blaze.

* * *

Meanwhile at the pinnacle of Temporal Tower, Dialga could feel Blaze's immense pain and sorrow from way above.

"Blaze...when you left here...and bid farewell to this place from the Rainbow Stoneship…I felt your intense sorrow even here. If that is how you still feel now...and if Leon were to share those feelings...I will grant your wish. The world needs _both_ of you still. That is why...I will trust you with a gift. I leave to you... _the future!_ "

The temporal pokémon turned around and looked to the heavens.

"This is my thanks! Please accept it!"

He let out a loud roar to the skies.

* * *

Back at the beach, Bidoof was still trying to comfort Blaze as best as he could, when he noticed that a big yellow orb appeared at the spot where Leon first arrived. When it disintegrated, he could see the piplup himself reappearing like magic! Leon was stunned that he came back.

"B-Blaze, l-look behind ya!" ordered Bidoof.

The chimchar got up quickly and turned around to see that it was his best pal, exactly at where he was first found. He stared in disbelief, but had a smile on his face with tears in his eyes.

"L-Leon..." Blaze began, "...is that really...you?"

The piplup, with tears also in his eyes, smiled back,

"Yes, pal...it _is_ me. I'm back."

All of a sudden, while his tears streamed down his face again, Blaze quickly ran up to Leon to give him a much needed hug after not seeing him for so long. The chimchar cried out his pal's name, while they spun around 360 degrees once, still holding on to their embrace. They held onto to each other as much as they could.

"L-L-Leon...I missed you _so_ much..."

"I missed you too, pal..."

"D-don't you _ever_ leave me again! I don't k-know if I can m-make it on my own if you l-leave me once more..."

"I know...I promise."

Leon and Blaze continued their hug for a few moments, until they eventually separated. The chimchar wiped his tears away, with his eyes now red from the joyous crying, but he now had a wide smile on his face.

"Remember you told me that I was like a big brother and a family?" questioned Leon.

"Yup, I sure did." answered Blaze.

"Like a pal for life?"

"Yeah."

"And...perhaps...more important than anything in your life?"

"Yes, and you're still super important to me now! Don't you _ever_ forget that."

"I won't. I promise."

Leon and Blaze still had big smiles on their faces at this time. Bidoof had to remind them, however, that dinner was about to begin at the guild.

"Ummm...sorry to interrupt this heartwarming reunion, but supper's almost ready!"

The two pals turned to him.

"OK, Bidoof!" said Leon. "Go over to the guild, we'll meet you there!"

Bidoof nodded in agreement as he turned around and made his way to the guild. Team Poképals turned to each other once more.

"Boy, those guild members are gonna get a kick out of this when they see you for the first time in such a while!" said Blaze.

"Yeah, no kidding," replied Leon. "Should we head back, now?"

"Yup, but hold my hand so we can run over there together! It's basically a way of me saying that I'm never letting you go again!"

"Ha-ha! Sounds good to me!"

Leon and Blaze finally made their way to the guild, holding hands with each other in doing so.

The chimchar now was now finally happy again, thanks to his old pal back with him at last.


End file.
